ABSTRACT

The study investigated the effect of Guided discovery instructional strategy on students’ achievement and interest in Economics. Five research questions and five null hypotheses guided the study. Quasi-experimental design was adopted for the study, specifically, non-equivalent control group design. The study was carried out in Umuahia Education Zone of Abia State. The sample for the study consist of 80 SS II students which comprises of 39 male and 41female students drawn from two (2) schools in the study area using purposive sampling techniques. A total of 50 multiple choice items were developed by the researcher and were subjected to content validation using test blue print after which the EAT was further subjected to item analysis. After the analysis 20 items were dropped and 30 items were selected. The Economics Interest Inventory Scale of 24 items were vetted and used for item analysis. For the reliability of the instrument, 20 copies of the EAT to the students and the data obtained from their responses were used to estimate the reliability of the instrument. The reliability of the EAT was determined using Kuder Richardson (K-R20) formula and reliability coefficient of 0.85 was obtained. The internal consistency of Economics Interest Inventory Scale was determined from the response of 20 students using Cronbach alpha formula. The test was administered to 20 secondary school II students and the internal consistency of 0.91 was obtained. The experimental groups were taught using guided discovery instructional strategy, while the control group was taught using lecture method. The treatments lasted for four weeks. Two instruments were used for data collection in the study namely; Economics Achievement Test (EAT) and Economics Interest Inventory Scale (EIIS). Data collected were analyzed using mean, standard deviation and Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA). The results revealed that guided discovery instructional strategy was superior to method in facilitating students’ achievement and interest in Economics. There was no significant difference in the mean scores of male and female students in Economics after the treatment, although male students performed slightly better than their female counterpart. On the test of interaction, it was revealed that mode of instruction (method) and gender had a significant ordinal interaction effect on students’ achievement and interest in Economics. Guided discovery instructional strategy was more effective than the conventional method . Based on the findings of the study, the educational implications of the findings were highlighted and the following recommendations were proffered among others: that Economics teachers and Economics teacher educators should adopt guided discovery instructional strategy when teaching in order to enhance students’ achievement and interest in Economics.