Effects of Vee-Diagram and Guided-Inquiry Instructional Strategies on Achievement in Physics among Secondary School Students in Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria

Abstract

The persistent poor performance in Physics among secondary students in Akwa Ibom State has been linked to teacher centered instructional strategies employed during teaching. There is an urgent need to explore student centered strategies which foster students’ active participation. This study investigated the effect of Vee-Diagram and Guided Inquiry Instructional Strategy on achievement in Physics among the senior secondary school student in Akwa Ibom State. A sample of 146 (66 females and 80 males) senior secondary school (SS2) Physics students were draw from the population of 43,981 comprising of 25,900 males and 18,081 females SS2 Physics students in all the 256 public secondary schools of (2024/2025) in Akwa Ibom State. The study was guided by 3 specific objectives, 3 research questions and3 null hypotheses tested at 0.05 level of significance. The study adopted the quasi-experimental research design involving two experimental groups and one control group. The experimental group were taught using Vee–Diagram and Guided Inquiry while the control group were taught using the conventional method. The instrument used for data collection was Physics Achievement Test (PAT).PAT was subjected to face and content validation by three experts from the Department of Science Education of Michael Okpara University of Agriculture ,Umudike.The reliability of the  instruments was established using Kuder-Richarson 20 formula (K – R₂₀).The reliability index was 0.89.Mean and standard deviation were used to answer the research questions  while the hypotheses were analyses using  (ANCOVA) analysis of covariance at a p-value of 0.05. Results indicated that students taught with the Vee–Diagram had significantly higher mean scores compared to those in the other groups. While male students showed higher gains, no significant gender differences were found across teaching methods. In conclusion, the Vee–Diagram significantly enhances academic achievement in Physics without gender bias. Recommendations include adopting the Vee–Diagram approach in teaching of Physics and providing necessary resources for its effective implementation in public secondary schools