Effect of Inquiry-Based Instructional Strategy on Senior Secondary School Students’ Achievement and Retention in Financial Accounting in Rivers State, Nigeria
Keywords:
Inquiry-based strategy, Conventional Lecture method, Achievement, RetentionAbstract
This study investigated the effect of inquiry-based instructional strategy on Senior Secondary School students’ achievement and retention in Financial Accounting in Rivers State, Nigeria. A quasi-experimental design including a pretest, posttest, non-equivalent control group, and delayed posttest was used. The study population consisted of 832 Senior Secondary School II Financial Accounting students, from which a sample of 157 students was selected by simple random sampling using balloting techniques from intact classes in two co-educational public secondary schools. The experimental group was taught by an inquiry-based instructional strategy, while the control group was taught by the conventional lecture method. The research instruments were the Financial Accounting Achievement Test and the Financial Accounting Retention Test. The tests comprised 40 multiple-choice items of multiple choice, were validated by experts and had a reliability coefficient of 0.86 established using Kuder–Richardson 21. The data were analysed using the mean and standard deviation, and analysis of covariance was used to test the hypotheses at the 0.05 level of significance. The results indicated that the students who were taught using inquiry-based instructional strategy obtained higher achievement and retention than those who were taught using the conventional method. Results of the ANCOVA demonstrated a significant effect of instructional strategy on achievement with a large effect size. There was also a significant effect for retention with a small effect size. The study concludes that the inquiry-based instructional strategy is superior to the conventional lecture method in enhancing students’ achievement and retention in Financial Accounting. Inquiry-based instructional strategies should be adopted by Financial Accounting teachers, and that school administrators and curriculum planners support their implementation through training and professional development programmes was recommended.
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