Effect of Inquiry Based Learning on Secondary Schools Students' Misconception of Electricity Concepts and Achievement in Physics

Abstract: The study examined the effect of inquiry based learning on secondary schools students’ misconception of electricity concepts and achievement in physics. Three research questions and two null hypotheses guided the study. The design of the study was quasi-experimental; specifically the pre-test, post-test; non randomized control group design. The population of study comprised of 1902 SS11 physics’ students. The sample consisted of 174 SS11 physics students who were purposively drawn from four coeducational secondary schools in the study area. Instruments known as “Physics Misconceptions Test (PMT) and Physics Achievement Test” (PAT) were used for data collection. The data collected were analyzed using mean and standard deviation which answer the research questions; while the hypotheses were tested at 0.05 level of significance using analysis of covariance (ANCOVA). The results revealed that there is gain in mean achievement scores of both control and experimental groups after treatment; Students exposed to inquiry based learning performed  better than students exposed to conventional lecture method; female students slightly had higher mean scores than their male counter parts in electricity concepts; there was a significant difference in the mean achievement scores of students exposed to inquiry based learning than those exposed to conventional lecture method; gender had no significant effect on the mean achievement scores of students in electricity concepts. Based on the findings of this study, the following recommendations were made; that use of conventional method of teaching should be de-emphasized in secondary schools to enhance better understanding of physics concepts vis a vis achievement in physics. Physics teachers should be sent on refresher courses as well as seminars and workshops periodically to update their knowledge and be exposed to techniques in teaching physics in inquiry based learning.