EFFECT OF DISCUSSION METHOD ON STUDENTS’ ACHIEVEMENT IN BASIC SCIENCE IN AKWANGA LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA OF NASARAWA STATE, NIGERIA

This study investigated the effect of discussion method on students’ achievement on basic science in Akwanga Local Government Area of Nas araw a State, Nigeria. The study employed quasi-experimental design of pretest-posttest non-equivalent control group. In this study, intact classes were used for the Discussion and Conventional Teaching Methods. The target population of the study consisted 1345 JS2 students from Akwanga Local Government Area of Nasarawa Slate. The sample consisted of 98 JSII students drawn from two Government Junior Schools in Akwanga Local Government Area of Nasarawa State. For the purpose of this study, the researchers developed an instrument named Basic Science Achievement Test (BSAT). The instrument was a 30 multiple-choice item draw from the four topics in the Basic Science curriculum for JSS 2. Mean and standard deviation were used to answer research questions and the null hypotheses were tested at 0.05 level of significance using ANCOVA statistics. The study found out that the use of discussion teaching method enhanced the learning of basic science much more than the conventional method; that there is no significant difference in the mean achievement scores of male and female students when taught using discussion method. The study therefore, recommends that discussion method should be employed for teaching Basic Science in junior secondary schools.