EFFECTS OF PROCESS ORIENTED GUIDED INQUIRY LEARNING ON INTEREST OF STUDENTS IN BIOLOGY IN SENIOR SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN FEDERAL CAPITAL TERRITORY, ABUJA

Abstract

The study was conducted to determine the effects of Process Oriented Guided Inquiry Learning on students Interest and Achievement in Biology in Senior Secondary Schools in Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. The study was guided by two research objectives, which were subsequently translated into two research questions and two null hypotheses. The study employed quasi-experimental design. Specifically, the study applied pre-test, post-test non- randomized, control group. The population of this study sampled randomly comprised of all SS II Biology students in public Senior Secondary Schools in Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. The sample size of the study was 102 senior secondary two (SS II) Biology students drawn through simple random sampling and purposive sampling procedure. The instruments used for data collection was Biology Interest Scale (BIS) developed by the researcher. The instrument was validated by three experts, two from Department of Science and Environmental Education and    a Biology teacher from the sampled school was selected to check the face validity, two qualified Biology teachers from the sampled school were selected to check the face validity while test blue print check the content validity. The reliability index of the Biology Interest Scale was determined using Cronbach Alpha which gave an index of 0.79. The data collected for this study were analyzed using mean and standard deviation to answer the research questions while the four hypotheses were tested at 0.05 level of significance using ANCOVA. The results revealed that students taught Biology using Process Oriented Guided Inquiry Learning gain higher mean interest scores   than those taught using conventional method. There were no differences in the mean interest scores of both male and female students taught Biology using Process Oriented Guided Inquiry Learning. It is recommended that Biology teachers should be encouraged to incorporate Process Oriented Guided Inquiry Learning (POGIL) as it allows students to actively participate in learning activities and promotes their success in Biology.