EFFECT OF INQUIRY BASED METHOD ON ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT AND RETENTION OF SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS IN FINANCIAL ACCOUNTING IN PLATEAU STATE, NIGERIA

The study was conducted to determine the effects of Inquiry-Based Method (IBM) on Academic Achievement and Retention of Secondary School Students in financial accounting in Plateau State, Nigeria. This study was guided by four research questions and four null hypotheses guided. The study adopted quasi-experimental design with total population of 4,056 SS I Financial Accounting (FA) students in the study area. The sample size for the study was 57 SS I FA students from the two randomly sampled Schools in Plateau State, Nigeria. The data was collected using 30-multiple choice Financial Accounting Achievement Test (FAAT). The instrument was validated by three research experts and the reliability was tested using Kuder Richardson 21 (K-R21) reliability method in which a coefficient of 0.81 was obtained. Data collected were analyzed using mean and standard deviation for answering the 4 research questions. Independent t-test and paired independent sample t-test were used for testing the null hypotheses at 0.05 level of significance. The study found that experimental group had considerable higher mean achievement score than the control group and retention had significant effects with the treatment given to them. Based on these findings, the study among others recommends that, Financial Accounting Teachers in Secondary Schools should adopt using Inquiry Based Method to improve the academic achievement and retention of secondary school students in Financial Accounting in Plateau State.