Effects of Inquiry-Based Laboratory Instruction on Senior Secondary Students' Achievement in Chemistry
Ngozi A. Eze1*, Chidiebere Nwachukwu1
- 1Enugu State University of Science and Technology, Enugu, Nigeria
* Corresponding author: [email protected]
Abstract
This quasi-experimental study examined the effect of inquiry-based laboratory instruction on the academic achievement of senior secondary school students in chemistry. A sample of 214 SS2 students drawn from six secondary schools in Enugu State was assigned to experimental and control groups. Students taught using the inquiry-based approach achieved significantly higher post-test scores than those taught by conventional demonstration methods, and the effect was more pronounced among female students. The findings support wider adoption of guided inquiry in Nigerian chemistry laboratories, even where equipment is limited.
Keywords
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Publication history
- Received
- 14 July 2025
- Revised
- 2 September 2025
- Accepted
- 8 October 2025
- Published
- 1 December 2025
Acknowledgements
The authors thank the principals and chemistry teachers of the participating schools.
Funding
This research received no specific grant from any funding agency.
Competing interests
The authors declare no competing interests.
References
- 1.Abrahams, I., & Millar, R. (2008). Does practical work really work? International Journal of Science Education, 30(14), 1945–1969.
- 2.Hofstein, A., & Lunetta, V. N. (2004). The laboratory in science education. Science Education, 88(1), 28–54.
- 3.Okeke, C. I. O. (2019). Science teacher preparation in Nigeria. African Journal of Teacher Education, 8(2), 55–74.
Copyright & licence. © 2025 the author(s). This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the CC BY 4.0 licence, which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.