ARGUMENT-BASED INQUIRY APPROACH AND BIOLOGY STUDENTS’ ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE IN EKET LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA

ABSTRACT The study was carried out to examine the effect of argument-based inquiry approach on acquisition of skills and academic performance in Biology among students in Eket Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State. Three research questions and three hypotheses were formulated to guide the study. The design for the study was quasi-experimental design. The population of this study comprised all the 2,450 Senior Secondary two (SS 2) Biology students in the eight (8) public secondary schools in the study area during the 2023/24 session. The sample of the study consisted of 100 senior secondary two (SS 2) Chemistry students which were drawn from two intact classes in two secondary schools in the study area. Simple random sampling technique was used for the selection. A researcher-developed instrument tagged “Biology Students Performance Test (BSPT)” was used for data collection. The instrument was validated by two experts in the Department of Science Education, Faculty of Education, Akwa Ibom State University. A reliability coefficient of 0.81 was obtained for the instrument using Kuder Richardson 20 formula. Mean and standard deviation were used to answer the research questions while independent t-test was used to test the hypotheses at .05 level of significance. The findings of the study showed that there is a significant difference in the mean score of students’ academic performance in Biology taught using argument-based inquiry and traditional inquiry approach in favour of argument-based inquiry; there is no significant difference in the mean score of male and female students’ academic performance in Biology taught using argument-based inquiry and there is no significant difference in the mean score of male and female students’ academic performance in Biology taught using traditional inquiry approach. Based on the finding of the study, it was concluded that argument-based inquiry approach enhances students’ academic performance in Biology in Eket Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State. It was therefore recommended among others that, Conferences, seminars and workshops should be organized regularly by government and relevant professional bodies to educate Biology teachers on the use of argument-based inquiry to enhance teaching and learning.