Revisiting Guided Discovery: Evaluating Its Effect on Mathematics Performance amongSecondary School Students in Kaduna State, Nigeria

Abstract

This study examined the effect of the guided discovery instructional strategy on senior secondary school students’ performance in mathematics in Kaduna State, Nigeria. Grounded in constructivist learning theory, the study adopted a quasi-experimental pretest, posttest non-
equivalent control group design involving 204 SSII students. Participants were assigned to either an experimental group taught using guided discovery or a control group taught with conventional lecture methods. A researcher-designed Mathematics Performance Test (MPT) was administered before and after a four-week intervention. Descriptive statistics showed a higher mean score for the guided discovery group; however, analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) at p ≤ 0.05 revealed no
statistically significant difference between the groups after controlling for pre-test scores, F(1, 139) = 0.043, p = .836, η² = .000. Pre-test scores accounted for most of the variance in post-test performance (η² = .936), indicating that guided discovery played a major role in student outcomes. The findings recommend that while guided discovery promotes active engagement, its short-term impact on performance may be limited without sufficient scaffolding and prolonged exposure. The study  underscores the need for sustained teacher training and future research on long-term effects and learner readiness for discovery-based learning.

Keywords: Guided discovery, mathematics instruction, performance, constructivism, secondary education, Nigeria