Effect of Guided Discovery Method on Students’ Performance in Biology Practicals in Secondary Schools in Enugu State

This study examined the effect of the guided discovery method on students' performance in Biology practical work in secondary schools in Enugu State, Nigeria. The guided discovery approach, which structures student inquiry within a scaffolded framework, is theorised to develop autonomous scientific thinking and improve practical competence by engaging learners as active agents of investigation rather than passive recipients of instruction. A quasi-experimental pretest-posttest control group design was used. Six SS2 Biology classes from six public secondary schools in Enugu East and Igbo-Eze North Local Government Areas were assigned to experimental and control conditions. The experimental group engaged in guided discovery-based practicals across six ecology and genetics topics, while the control group was taught the same topics through conventional demonstration. A Biology Practical Performance Scale was developed, validated, and administered, with a reliability coefficient of 0.82. Analysis of Covariance was used to compare groups. Results indicated that the guided discovery group outperformed the conventional group significantly in practical performance scores. Student reflective journals also revealed higher conceptual engagement in the experimental group. Recommendations included integration of guided discovery into the Biology practical curriculum, teacher training workshops on scaffolded inquiry design, and provision of adequate laboratory consumables to support student-centred practicals. Keywords: guided discovery, Biology practicals, student performance, Enugu State, inquiry-based learning.