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ABSTRACT
The
objective of the study was to compare the effects of inquiry-based learning and
traditional lecture methods on student’s acquisition of problem solving and
scientific literacy skills in Physics. Five Hypotheses guided the research. The
hypotheses were tested at P<0.05 level of significance. The pre-test and post-test
quasi experimental and control group design was used for the study. The
population comprised of 100 SSS II students offering physics in ten carefully
selected secondary schools in Abeokuta south local education zone of the
ministry of education, Ogun State. Five students from each group were
constituted as the experimental group while the other group of five students
from each school makes up the control group. The experimental group was taught
some selected physics concepts using the inquiry based learning method, while
the control group were taught the same physics concept using the Lecture
method. Two validated instruments called Achievement Test (AT) and Attitude of
Students towards Physics Questionnaires (ATISQ) were used to gather data. Data collected
were analyzed using Cronbach Alpha Technique for reliability coefficient as
follows: AT r = 0.84, and, ATISQ r = 0.80. The result of the study revealed
that: (1)there is a significant difference in the performance of the
experimental group over the control group. In other words, there is a statistical
difference in the performance of the students taught by inquiry-based learning
method over those taught with traditional lecture method (3) the
attitude toward physics of the student taught by inquiry-based techniques is
significantly higher than those taught by traditional method.
(4) there is no significance gender difference in the acquisition of
problem solving skills among the students and (5) there is a
statistical difference in the acquisition of problem solving skills among
students based on the school they attend The researcher recommended that
inquiry based learning method should be incorporated in Physics Teacher
Training Curriculum in order to produce teachers who would handle Science Process
Skills Instructional Technique effectively. The Federal and State Ministries of
Education should provide adequate funds to sponsor Physics Teachers for
in-service training in Science Process Skills and Instructional Strategy
towards improving academic performance of students in schools.
TABLE
OF CONTENTS
TITLE
PAGE . . . . . . . . . i
CERTIFICATION. . . . . . . . . . ii
DEDICATION . . . . . . . . . iii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT . . . . . iv
ABSTRACT . . . . . . . . . . v
TABLE OF CONTENTS . . . . . . . . vi
LIST OF
TABLES. . . . . . . . . . vii
CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION
1.0 BACKGROUND
OF THE
STUDY . . . . . . 1
1.1 STATEMENT
OF
PROBLEM . . . . . . 3
1.2 PURPOSE
OF THE
STUDY. . . . . . . . 4
1.3 RESEARCH
QUESTIONS. . . . . . . . 5
1.4 RESEARCH
HYPOTHESIS. . . . . . . . 6
1.5 SIGNIFICANCE
OF THE
STUDY. . . . . . . 6
1.6 SCOPE
AND LIMITATION OF THE STUDY. . . . . 7
1.7 DEFINITION
OF
TERMS. . . . . . . . 8
CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW
2.0 INTRODUCTION. . . . . . . . . 9
2.1 INQUIRY
– BASED
LEARNING. . . . . . . 10
2.2 PROBLEM-SOLVING
SKILL
ACQUISITION . . . . 17
2.3 SCIENTIFIC
LITERACY. . . . . . . . 22
2.4 NATURE
OF
PHYSICS . . . . . . . 26
2.5 ACHIEVEMENT
TEST . . . . . . . 27
2.6 TRADITIONAL
METHOD OF
TEACHING . . . . 31
2.7 CONCLUSION . . . . . . . . 34
CHAPTER
THREE: RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODOLOGY
3.0 INTRODUCTION . . . . . . . . 35
3.1 METHOD. . . . . . . . . . 35
3.2 SUBJECT
MATTER
CONTENT . . . . . . 36
3.3 INSTRUMENTATION . . . . . . . 37
3.4 SAMPLE
AND SAMPLING
TECHNIQUES . . . . 37
3.5 VALIDATION
AND RELIABILITY OF THE
INSTRUMENT . . 38
3.6 METHOD
OF DATA
ANALYSIS . . . . . . 38
CHAPTER FOUR: DATA PRESENTATION AND
ANALYSIS OF RESULTS
4.0 INTRODUCTION. . . . . . . . . 39
4.1 DEMOGRAPHIC
PROFILE OF THE RESPONDENTS . . . 39
4.3 HYPOTHESES
TESTING . . . . . . . 40
CHAPTER FIVE: SUMMARY, CONCLUSION
AND RECOMMENDATION
5.1 SUMMARY
OF FINDINGS. . . . . . . . 44
5.3 CONCLUSION . . . . . . . . 45
5.3 RECOMMENDATIONS. . . . . . . . 45
REFERENCES . . . . . . . . . 46
APPENDIX
1 . . . . . . . . . 50
APPENDIX 2
. . . . . . . . . 54
APPENDIX 3
. . . . . . . . . 58
APPENDIX 4
. . . . . . . . . 61
APPENDIX 5
. . . . . . . . . 64
APENDIX
6. . . . . . . . . . 66
APENDIX
7 . . . . . . . . . 67
LIST OF TABLES
Table 1.0: Experimental Group
Pre-Test and Post-Test Scores
. . . . 28
Table 2: Results of post test and pre test for
the control group
. . . . 30
Table 3: Mean score of Pre-test for
Experimental and Control group
. . . 32
Table 4: Mean score of Post-test for Experimental and
Control group
. . . 32
Table 5: Mean of total score of Experimental and Control
group.
. . . . .33
Table 6: Mean score of Experimental and Control group in
Pre-test and Post-test.
. . 33
Table 7: Sex of Respondents
. . . . . . . . . 34
Table 8: Age Group of
Respondents. . . . . . . . 35
Table 9: Qualification of
Teachers. . . . . . . . 35
Table 10: Subject Area of Teachers
. . . . . . . . 36
Table 11: Years of teaching Physics
. . . . . . . . 36
Table 12: Q1 - Does your school have a physics laboratory?
. . . . 37
Table 13: Q 2 - Do you have electric power source in the
laboratory?
. . . 37
Table 14: Q 3 - Do you have alternative power source
(generator)
in case of power
failure? . . . . . . . . 38
Table 15: Q 4 - Do you hold all your physics lessons in the
laboratory?
. . . 38
Table 16: Q 5 - Do you have enough apparatus to do round all
the students
for Laboratory activities
. . . . . . . . 38
Table 17: Q6 - Do you have assistant/technician to assist
you during
laboratory activities? . . . . . . . . . 39
Table 18: Q7 - What is the average physics class size of
your SS 2?
. . . 39
Table 19: Q8 - How many hours of laboratory activities do
you have in a
week?. . 39
Table 20: Q9 - How often do you stock your physics
laboratory with new equipments?. 40
Table 21: Q10 - Are your students allowed to use the
laboratory for inquiry or project assignments apart from normal class time?
. . . . . 40
Table 22: Did you hear about inquiry – based learning during
your training
in the school?
. . . . . . . . . 41
Table 23: Have attended any workshop or seminal on inquiry –
based
learning?. . 42
Table 24: Have you participated in any laboratory – based
inquiry activities
before?. 42
Table 25: Do you know any textbook for teachers on the use
of inquiry based learning?. 43
Table 26: Do you think the inquiry – based learning method
waste
time?. . . 43
Table 27: How often do you use inquiry – based method to
teach?
. . . . 44
Table 28: Can you design inquiry activities for student use?
. . . . 44
Table 29: Have you ever designed one inquiry – based
activities for student use?
. . 45
Table 30: Do you think students learn better through
laboratory activities?
. 45
Table 31: Have you done any personal study on inquiry –
based learning?
. . . 46
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.0 Background
of the Study
Inquiry-based learning is not a new
approach in teaching but it may not be widely used as it could be. A number of
studies have reported the benefits of inquiry-related teaching approaches,
suggesting that these techniques foster students’ understanding of scientific
processes, scientific literacy and critical thinking (Cavallo et al.,
2004; Glasson and McKenzie, 1998; Haury, 1993) among other competencies.
Inquiry-based teaching can also improve students’ understanding of scientific
method and its strength and weaknesses (Keller et al., 2000). These
and other studies imply that the use of inquiry-based learning is an effective
approach for teaching science at all levels ranging from K-12 through to
undergraduate education (NRC, 2000). That physics is a practical course is not
a negotiable affirmation. Practical problems as well as standard examinations
in physics do not test only knowledge of physics theories. They also test
science literacy and problem solving skills. “Professional physicists earn
their salaries not particularly for their knowledge of physics but for their
ability to solve workplace problems (Dan Styer, 2002)”.
It is important that teaching and
learning of science should enhance scientific literacy as well as ability to
solve practical problems. We live in a very dynamic world where knowledge is
increasing every second and changes are experienced in almost every sphere of
life. The kind of learners being groomed in our schools must therefore be those
who are able to cope with, and contribute to the existing body of knowledge to
the advantage of man. It is also important that they be scientifically
literate, that is, they must be able to” acquire a mix of concepts, history and
philosophy that help to understand the scientific issues of our time” (Robert,
2002). Man’s brain is expected to do more than storing information and
knowledge. It must be able to manipulate knowledge to solve practical problems.
This idea of solving practical
problems is responsible for the many problems contained in most physics
textbooks with answers supplied. No one solves such physics problems by simply
writing down the correct equations and the correct reasoning with the correct
connections the first time through. Just as no one build a puzzle by putting every
piece in its correct positions the first time through. The answers provided for
questions contained in physics textbooks represent the end product of a problem
solving session and rarely show the process involved in reaching that end
product. This is a deliberate attempt to provoke the problem solving skills in
students. Building a student up to the level of acquiring problem solving and
scientific literacy skills will require a carefully selected method of
teaching. A teaching method that may work for helping students to understand
physics principles may not necessarily work for teaching them to apply the
principles to practical situation in which the physics is helpful. Teachers
therefore need to teach to avoid a situation where students would say “I understand
the material I just can’t solve the problems” as this will mean a defeat of the
objectives of teaching and learning physics as contained in the National
curriculum for physics stated as follows:
“Physics is a very crucial subject
for technological development and as such its
teaching and learning must be a matter of national
concern. Based on this concern and an analysis of the situation, the following
objectives are to be satisfied by the senior secondary school physics curriculum”.
To provide basic literacy in physics
for functional living in the society.
To acquire basic concepts and
principles of physics as a presentation for further studies.
To acquire essential scientific
skills and attitudes as a presentation for the technological application of
physics.
To stimulate and enhance creativity
(National curriculum for senior secondary schools,
1985)
These four objectives presupposes
understanding of physics concepts and principles beyond head knowledge or learning
and being able to recall just as it was taught. Head knowledge will only
produce ‘informed illiterates’ for they will not be able to put knowledge
gained into meaningful use.
Equally important as acquisition of
problem solving skill is the need to acquire scientific literacy skill. People
must be able to “use science” even if they are unable to “do science”
.According to Robert (2002), “I feel strongly that those who insist that
everyone must understand science at a deep level are confusing two important
but separate aspects of scientific knowledge .As in many other endeavors, doing
science is obviously distinct from using science and scientific literacy
concern only the latter”.
The traditional lecture method might
have been in use for a very long time, investigating how its effectiveness on
student’s gain in problem solving and scientific literacy skills compare with
other newer methods like the inquiry-based learning method is certainly worth
the sort.
1.1 Statement
of Problem
The problem of lack of interest in
Physics lies not only on the side of students but also on the teachers as well
as the teaching method they use in their teaching. Teaching is frequently done
in a boring manner: mainly through textbook reading during lessons, instead of real
experiences or multimedia teaching methods. Lessons are schematic, with no
innovative scenarios, like role-playing, reporting, and competitions and so on.
A negative perception of Physics creates a kind of a negative feedback-in lower
secondary school. Other problems are poorly equipped laboratories, usually
possessing only old experiments, with no explanations or teaching scenarios.
During teaching activities, teachers
assumed that students are at the same ability levels and low achievers that
need more attention are neglected. If the ability levels of students are not
given the needed attention, then poor performance of the SS students would
remain.
It is in the light of these that
this study was conducted to find out if inquiry based would assist in improving
students acquisition of problems solving and scientific skills in Physics
better than the traditional lecture method.
1.2 Purpose
of the Study
The purpose of this study are as
follows:
1.
To determine whether there will be
any significant difference in the acquisition of problem solving skill by
physics students taught using inquiry-based learning method and those taught
using traditional lecture method .
2.
To determine whether there
will be any significant difference in the acquisition of scientific literacy
skills by physics students taught using inquiry-based learning method and those
taught by traditional lecture method.
3.
To determine whether there will be
any significant difference in the attitude of students to physics between those
taught by inquiry-based learning method and those taught by traditional lecture
method.
4.
To determine whether there will be
any significant difference between male and female students taught by
inquiry-based learning methods and those taught by traditional lecture method.
5 To
determine whether there will be any significant difference in the acquisition
of problem
solving skills of physics students taught by inquiry-based learning method
and those taught by traditional lecture methods
based on the type of school
(public/private) the students
attend.
1.3 Research
Questions
For
the purpose of this study, the following research questions are pertinent:
1. Will
there be any significant difference in the acquisition of problem solving
skills of physics students taught by inquiry-based learning methods and those
taught by traditional lecture methods?
2. Will
there be any significant difference in the acquisition of scientific literacy
skills of physics students taught by inquiry-based learning methods and their
counterparts taught by traditional lecture methods?
3. Will
there be any significant difference in the attitude of physics students to
physics between those taught by inquiry-based learning methods and those taught
by traditional lecture methods?
4. Will
there be any significant difference in the acquisition of problem solving
skills between male and female students taught by inquiry-based learning
methods and those taught by traditional lecture methods?
5 Will
there be any significant difference in the acquisition of problem solving
skills of physics students taught by inquiry-based learning methods and those
taught by traditional lecture methods based on the type of school
(public/private) the students attend?
1.4 Research
Hypothesis
H1:
There will be no significant difference in the acquisition of problem solving
skills of physics students taught by inquiry-based learning method and those taught
by traditional lecture method.
H2:
There will be no significant difference in the acquisition of scientific
literacy skill of physics students taught by inquiry-based learning method and
those taught by traditional lecture method.
H3:
There will be no significant difference in student’s attitude to physics
between students taught by inquiry-based learning method and those taught by
traditional lecture method.
H4:
There will be no significant difference in the acquisition of problem solving
skills of physics students and their sex.
H5:
There will be no significant difference in the acquisition of problem solving
skills of physics students and the category of school they attend.
1.5 Significance
of the Study
Learning science lessons by
apprehending requires using science process skills. Having science process
skills acquired, at the same time, means preparing future scientists, having
scientific literacy acquired, that is enabling students to use science
information in daily life (personal, social and global). Science process skills
are based on scientific inquiry and teaching science by inquiry involves
teaching students science process skills, critical thinking, scientific
reasoning skills used by scientists and inquiry is defined as an approach to
teaching, the acts scientists use in doing science and it can be a highly
effective teaching method that helps students to get the understanding of
concepts and use of process skills
It is hoped that the findings
from these studies would:
help
the students to develop positive attitude towards learning Physics
be
of benefit to students and it would equip them for solving problems of
scientific nature effectively and at the same time enhance their academic
performance.
motivate
physics teachers to teach using inquiry-based learning method and help them
find fulfillment by working as true scientists.
be
useful to other researchers who are interested in issues related to varied
abilities.
be
useful to associations concerned with outcomes of research especially those
interested in instructional innovations in Physics
Also
be of interest to curriculum developers who would benefit from the findings of
the study by bringing into focus the effectiveness of inquiry-based learning
method and thereby enable them to make necessary adjustment in the curriculum
where necessary.
stimulate
further research which would results in the upliftment of the standard of
science education in Nigeria.
1.6 Scope
and Limitations of the Study
The study will be carried out under
the following scope and limitations due to some constraints in the prevailing
situations:
1. The
inquiry-based method and the Traditional lecture method will be focused upon
among other possible methods of instruction which may facilitate problem
solving and literacy skills acquisition among physics students,
2. Only
five private and five public secondary schools in Abeokuta, Ogun State will be
used due to constraint of time, availability of subject, teacher, and
reasonable class size,
3. The
content of instruction shall be within the SS scheme as contained in the
National curriculum for physics.
1.7 Definition
of Terms
Inquiry-based learning:
This is the kind of learning through laboratory activities in which the
instructor lead students to discover a specific concept after being prompted by
a specific question or problem.
Problem solving skill:
This refers to the skill required to use the knowledge (of physics) to
correctly interpret and solve numeric and practical problems.
Inquiry activities:
These are physics activities designed for students from which they can work by
investigation to proof theories and establish facts.
Functional science:
This refers to science that goes beyond head knowledge to what is practically
useful in everyday life situation.
Scientific literacy:
Scientific literacy encompasses written, numerical, and digital literacy as they
pertain to understanding science, its methodology, observations, and theories
Public school:
Secondary schools owned and managed by the government.
Private school:
Secondary schools owned and managed by private individuals, family, groups or
mission.
TOPIC: A
COMPARISM OF THE EFFECTS OF INQUIRY – BASED LEARNING AND TRADITIONAL LECTURE
METHOD ON STUDENTS’ ACQUISITION OF PROBLEM SOLVING AND SCIENTIFIC LITERACY
SKILLS IN PHYSICS
Format: MS Word
Chapters: 1 - 5
Delivery: Email
Delivery: Email
Number of Pages: 67
Price: 3000 NGN
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