ENHANCING THE RETENTION CAPACITY OF BASIC SCIENCE STUDENTS THROUGH THE GUIDED DISCOVERY AND DIDACTIC INSTRUCTIONAL METHO

This study examined the guided discovery method as an instrument for enhancing students ’ retention capacity in basic science. Relevant literatures from books, journals, lectures, textbooks and others were reviewed to find out the opinions of other authors regarding the effectiveness of guided discovery method and its supremacy over the didactic method. The main objectives were investigating the extent to which the guided discovery method will enhance the retention capacity of basic science students, compare the retention capacities of male and female students taught with the guided discovery method and to compare the mean scores of basic science students taught with guided discovery method and the didactic method in a retention test.The population of the study comprised of all junior secondary school students in Egor Local Government area of Edo State. Out of these schools,one was chosen, having two intact classes of JSS III basic science students, and this constituted the sample of the study. A 50-item achievement test was administered to the two treatment groups (the experimental and control groups) before and after the treatment and the scores obtained were analysed using t-test and analysis of covariance (ANCOVA). The findings indicated that the guided discovery method enhances the students ’ retention capacity than the didactic method. Also, retention rate was lower for girls than for boys. Based on the findings, it was concluded that the guided discovery teaching method should be aplied in teaching basic science.