EFFECT OF GUIDED  DISCOVERY METHOD ON INTEREST ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT AND KNOWLEDGE RETENTION OF FINANCIAL ACCOUNTING STUDENTS  IN COLLEGES OF EDUCATION INNORTH-WEST NIGERIA

ABSTRACT

The study determined the effect ofguided-discovery method on students’ academic achievement, interest and retention in financial accounting in Colleges of Education in North  West,  Nigeria. The study adopted quasi-experimental research design.  The population for the study comprised

667 NCE I students ofef

ring financial accounting in nine Colleges of Education in North  West,

Nigeria. Random sampling technique was used to select Federal College ofEducation, Kano and Kaduna State College of Education,  Gidan-Waya,  Kafanchan.  80 financial accounting students from KSCOE,  Gidan-waya and 60 financial accounting students in FCE Kano were used.  The criteria for  selecting the two Colleges of Education was based on colleges of education with approvedfinancial accounting programme with final account ofsmall scale enterprise,  qualified financial  accounting  lecturers,   and  approved   required facilities.   The  instrument for   data collection was a 45-item multiple  choice Financial Accounting Achievement  Test (FAAT) and Financial Accounting Interest Inventory Scale (FAIIS).   The instruments were subjected to face and content validation by three experts.  The reliability of the instrument was determined using K-R-20 and Cronbach Alpha coefficient formula  which yielded a reliability coefficient  of 0.98 and 0.91  respectively after administering the instrument on Federal College ofEducation Zaria. Before  the commencement of the experiment,  all students in experimental  and control groups were subjected to pre-test in order to obtain the pre-test scores for the study.  On completion of the experiment,  the post-test was administered with the post post-test scores  collected two weeks after  the post-test.  The  data  collected  were  analyzed  using  mean  to  answer  the  research questions while ANCOVA  statistic were used for testing the null hypotheses  at 0.05  level of significance.   Based on the analysed data and the interpretation,  the study found that guided• discovery   method   significantly   increased  students’   academic   achievement,   interest   and knowledge retention in trading accounting, profit and loss account and balance sheet of small scale enterprises.  There was a significant difference in the mean achievement scores ofstudents taught with guided-discovery method and those taught with conventional method. Based on the findings  of the  study,  it  was  recommended,  among  others,  that  seminars,  workshops  and conferences  should be organized by educational administrators and the ministry of education where colleges of education lecturers will be trained on the application  of guided-discovery method for  effective  teaching  and  learning  of financial  accounting.  Lastly  it  was further recommended that colleges of education lecturers should be encouraged and sponsored for  in• service  training for  skills  update  in  the  use  of modern  and  students-centred  methods  of instruction such as guided-discovery.

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CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

Background  of the Study

The need for individuals,  government  and business  organizations  to account  for their incomes   and   expenditures   has   become   more   important   in   this   period   of  economic competitiveness.   The knowledge of financial accounting tends to help individuals to account for their incomes and expenditures. Effective  knowledge  and skill of financial accounting  can be acquired through proper teaching of the course by making use of appropriate teaching methods. Financial accounting is one of the courses offered in business education in tertiary institutions such as Universities, Polytechnics and Colleges of Educations.  It is offered in the Department of Business Education in Colleges of Education (COE) in Nigeria.

Financial  accounting has been defined by different  authors.  Osuala (2000) stated that, financial  accounting  is  the  process  of capturing,  processing,  and  communicating   financial information of a business enterprise. Lewis and Pendrill (2000) stated that financial accounting is the  process  of identifying,  measuring,  and  communicating  economic  information  to  permit informed judgment  and decisions by the users of the information.  Auwal (2013) explained that financial accounting  is directly related to external reporting, by providing  investors  and other outsiders with financial information they need for decision-making. Udoh (2011) also defined financial accounting as a specialized area of instruction that deals directly with business facts, business understanding,  economic understanding,  business attitudes,  and appreciation necessary to understand  and  adjust  to  the  economic  and  social  institutions  called  business.  Financial accounting in this study is an area of instruction that provides the individual with the knowledge,

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skill and attitudes to collect,  record,  analyze,  interpret  and communicate  financial  data to the users.

The objectives of financial accounting,  according to Osuala (2009),  are:  to learn how to keep better records for personal and home use; to study financial accounting records and reports as an integral part of the function of business enterprises;  to understand  the concepts of assets, liabilities   and  proprietorship   so  that  the  fluctuation   in  business   cycle  may  be  correctly interpreted, and to interpret and analyze business papers and records in terms of customer among others.   According to Wood and Sangster (2008), the functions of financial accounting include that  it  is useful  in  calculating  profit,  in credit  clearing,  and  as a tool  of control,  planning, financial position and provision of necessary information for taxation.

Financial  accounting  also  helps  individuals  to  account  for their  mcome,  record  their assets, enable companies to account to their shareholders, governmental agencies and the general public; government use it as a basic tool for controlling their resources. Financial accounting is essential  to the successful  operation  of a business  and non-profit  organization  such as social, voluntary  and religious  organizations  and voters who make decisions  at the ballot  box using accounting  concepts  (Igben,  2007).  Financial  accounting  is important  to both  big  and small organizations, government as well as individuals in their economic activities that involve money and  monetary  transactions   with  one  another  (Osuala,  2009).  Therefore  the  knowledge  of financial  accounting  would  enable  individuals  and  business  organizations  to  keep  accurate records of their financial transactions.

Financial accounting is also globally useful most especially in international trade where business  transactions  in the international  market  is recorded,  analyzed  and interpreted  for the

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parties  concerned  (Osuala,  2009).     However,  no matter how good the objectives of financial accounting may be, it cannot be automatically realized except it is effectively taught and learnt.

Effective  teaching  means  making  use  of the  appropriate  pedagogies  to  transmit  the knowledge  and skills to students.  The ultimate goal of any instructional  activity in both formal and informal education  is to assist the learner to learn. However, to achieve this, appropriate teaching  methods   and  approaches   that  encourage   students’  participation   should  be  used. According to Osuala (2009),  approaches  are means by which the teacher introduces the subject to students of financial accounting, and these approaches  are; journal  approach, balance  sheet approach and the ledger approach. However, according to Osuala (2009) method is the procedure by which the teacher meets the learner within his level, starting with his interest and problems. Osuala (2009) added that methods  are used to help students  learn facts, concepts,  skills, and acquire knowledge in financial accounting.  Some teaching methods that are commonly used are: the demonstration, the lecture,  discussion,  cooperation,  individual and group,  field trips, project and the Socratic methods. These methods can be individually or collectively used to develop the intellectual understanding  of the students in financial accounting.  But none of this method can individually be used to assist students to learn skills in financial accounting.

Osuala (2009) observed that there are two basic facts in choosing and using methods in teaching  financial  accounting; the first  fact is that  financial  accounting  is comprised  of both knowledge and skill, the second fact is that no single method is best for all students.  Therefore, methods  that can help  students build  analytical  and synthesis  skills,  apply concepts,  learn to solve problems, develop mature judgment, enhance communication skills, and retain information should be encouraged  for use  in teaching  financial  accounting  (Auwal,  2013).   Some of the conventional  or traditional  methods  such as lecture,  demonstration,  team teaching,  discussion,

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and  textbook  methods  seem  to  have  been  encouragmg  rote  learning  and  memorization  of concepts without  actually exposing  students to challenges  that will make them to be actively engaged in the learning process. The over reliance  on these methods  do not really encourage students’  academic  achievement, interest  and retention  (Sanni and Ochepa, 2002).  Therefore, there   is  need   to  embrace   innovative  methods   and  techniques   that   encourage   students’ participation  in the learning process. Guided-discovery  method is an innovation technique that could be used in teaching financial accounting due to its student- centered approach.   It is hoped that if effectively  utilized,  it could facilitate the learning of Financial Accounting  and increase students’ interest and retention.

Modem  methods  of teaching  financial accounting do not just  stress the importance  of financial accounting  entries in the books of accounts,  calculating profit and loss, cash flow and so on, but includes teaching for critical thinking, teamwork, communication, ethical awareness, technological  competence  and independent learning which could be achieved through guided• discovery method  (Jayaprakash,  2005).  According  to Messial  (1991),  guided -discovery is a process  of self-learning  whereby students generate concepts or principles  and ideas with very little intervention  from the teacher. The author indicated that it takes place in problem solving situations  where the  learner  draws  on his own experience  and prior  knowledge.  Tenanbaum (2011) added that guided-discovery  learning tasks can range from implicit pattern detection,  to the elicitation of explanations and working through manuals to conducting simulations.   It can occur whenever students are not provided with an exact answer but rather the materials in order to  find the  answer  themselves.  Operationally,  guided-discovery  is  an  inquiry  approach  that enables the student of financial accounting to independently discover information or knowledge that can help him in problem-solving.

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Guided-discovery   is  one  of the  constructivist  based  learning  approach  in  education, which emphasis on reflecting on past experiences;  students construct their understanding  of the world and generate their own rules and mental model that can be used to make sense of their experiences (Norman, 2014).  In order for students to construct their own meaning, they must be allowed to independently discover their concepts, knowledge and then make their understanding. Therefore guided-discovery  as a constructivist  approach helps students to personalize  concepts which can enable them create understanding by using any method of instruction.  The role of the teacher in this case, is to guide the students towards the discovery of information.  According to Norman  (2014),  the discovery  can be done by providing  appropriate  materials,  a conducive learning environment, and allotting of time for students to discover.  The teacher can also set the students  up  to  make  the  desired  discovery.  This  can  be  done  by  providing  the  necessary background  knowledge  to lead the students to the discovery; also the student must realize the methods to be used to make discovery.   To encourage the student, the teacher may demonstrate what the students are expected to do.  Guided-discovery  teaching method can effectively be used in teaching final accounts of small scale enterprises.  The final account of small scale enterprises is one of the topics in financial accounting taught in colleges of education.

Small Scale Enterprise is a concept that is being used by government to encourage youths to be  self-reliant.    It  is defined  as a business  enterprise  with  an asset  base  of N5m  with  a minimum labour force of 11 persons (CBN, 2015).    Small scale enterprises play very important role in national economy. One of the reasons responsible for the failure of small scale enterprises is  lack  of proper  keeping  of financial  records  (Kambwale,  Chisom  and  Korodia,  2015). According to the authors,  small scale enterprises fail because of poor financial record keeping. For the survival of small scale enterprises,  effective  record keeping,  analysis and interpretation

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of final accounts need to be maintained.  The topics covered in the final accounts of a small scale enterprise includes; trading, profit and loss account, balance sheet and the adjustment in the final accounts of a small scale enterprise.  The topic is one of the topics students found difficult to solve. The researcher established this through his experience in teaching the course, and also his preliminary investigation from other colleges of education in North-West Nigeria. Most students dodge any question on final accounts of a small scale enterprise,  and when made compulsory poor marks are usually recorded in the question. However, this may be that the teachers mostly teach  the  topics  using  conventional  method  such as lecture  method.  This  method  has  some shortcomings  which  are  bordering  on  the  fact  that  they  are  teacher-centred,  teacher-active, learner-passive and content emphasis. This could affect the students’ interest in the subject. The availability  of learning  facilities  and conducive  learning  environment  may motivate  students’ interest in learning financial accounting in Colleges of Education.

Interest, in a classroom setting, is required to meet students’ intellectual and emotional needs. Lee, Chao and Chen (2011) opined that interest can never be imposed on an individual by external  forces,  but  a teacher  can  help  increase  the  students’  interest.  The  authors  further explained that, interest  can be generated  in a classroom  by selecting  well-compiled  teaching materials, selecting teaching materials that are full of variation and liveliness,   selecting teaching materials that students have pre-requisite knowledge of, encouraging students to be active participating learners,  giving hints/reminders relevant to students; putting to use ideas of novelty and variation;  and helping the students set an example by showing passion and interest about what is being taught. However, Chang (1996) explained that interest has two meaning which involves: an individual’s internal orientation when he/she expresses the choice of someone or something  and,  the  difference   between  interest   and  motives  which  causes  change  in  an

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individual’s  behaviors.  Operationally,  interest  is  grappmg  of students’  attention  mn  financial accounting  during  an instruction  through  interactive  approaches.  An  individual  can develop interest when he possesses autonomy over a learning task, and able to strengthen his/her internal motives to increase active participation when it comes to self-decision and control-oriented task (Chang,  1996).  Students’ lack of interest in a subject can be exhibited through lack of enthusiasm about knowledge and some disappointing class behaviors such as sleeping, becoming distracted, chatting, passing notes and eating while lecture is on.  Study by Lee, Choa and Chan (2011) noted that motivating students’ interest in learning and encouraging them to spend more time on school work is a problem, but a teacher’s good attitude plays an integral part in the effort to improving students’  unwillingness   to  participate  in  class.  The  teachers’  ability  to  manage  his  class effectively,  providing  good  teaching  pattern  and  strategies  may  develop  the  interest  of the students.   This study is set to find out whether interest of financial accounting students can be improved  through  guided  discovery  method  of teaching.  Whenever   a  student  interest  is motivated, the student will be able to performed academically in financial accounting

Academic  achievement  is the measure of students’ performance  in a class work.   It is often affected by several factors.  Artherton (2003) opined that academic achievement is hinged on   several   factors   including   teaching   methods,   intelligence,   background,   organization, opportunity, motivation,  instructional procedures,  teaching aids, interest of the learner and other environmental factors. Other factors include learner’s mental ability, his goals and purposes, his identification with learning, his maturation and method of guidance,  availability of facilities and methods of evaluation. According to Rothstein (2000), academic achievement is the accomplishment  or performance  in a particular  subject.  It  is indicated by grades, marks, and scores  of descriptive  commentaries.  Rothstein  further  stated that  academic  achievement  also

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refers to how students deal with their studies and how they cope with or accomplish different tasks given to them by their teachers in a fixed time or academic year.  Academic achievement means the success made by a student in school work.  In this study, academic achievement is the success made by students of financial accounting denoted with scores and grades.  Several studies have come out with factors that affect students’ academic achievement. Ugwuogo (2000) enumerated some of the factors to include; social factors, impacting stress factors, attitude of the students, and level of students’ intelligence, teaching method, personality  trait, and knowledge retention.

Gaines  (2001)  defined  retention  as  the  ability  of the  students  to  be  able  to  recall knowledge  acquired after  a teaching process. Gaines observed that one of the most important factors in the classroom is retention of the concepts that are taught. Auwal (2013) observed that when students serve as passive spectators in the classroom,  it may encourage a drop in attention and decrease their retention of knowledge.  Retention in the context of this study is the ability of the students to store and recall financial accounting knowledge or information taught through an instructional process. The incorporation of student-centered  methods which require interactive participation  of students  will  serve  as  a  viable  way  to  avoid  a  drop  in  student  retention. According to Auwal (2013), students appear to benefit from knowing how to execute a strategy, knowing why the strategy works and knowing where strategy works. Honestly, students will best learn if they realize how the concepts are directly applied to their future life.  It is believed that contextualized learning holds promise for improving a student’s ability to synthesize information from  desperate  sources;  for  furthering  understanding   of new  and  sometimes  contradicting data;for enhancing one’s ability to think critically and transfer learning to future life experience (Allen,  Abaye,  McKenna  and Camp,  2007).  The strategies that have been proven to increase

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memory  retention  are;  reception,  conscious  effort,  accountability,  exercise,  routines,  colors, pictures,  food  that  may  affect  one’s  meaningfulness   (Gaines,  2001).  To  promote  memory retention in the classroom, Gaines further emphasized that factual information and documented information be given to students.   Gaines  also maintained  that if the teacher  desires to help students retain information, then the appropriate methods that encourage students’ active participation should be used. Such methods should normally include innovative methods that are student-centered  such  as  the  guided-discovery  method  which  is  based  on the  constructivist theory.   This work is also set to finding out the effect of guided-discovery teaching on students’ knowledge retention in financial accounting.

This study is anchored on constructivist  theory developed by Bruner in the  1960s. The theory explains that practice in discovery teaches one to acquire information in a way that makes information more readily viable in problem solving. According Bruner (1967), problem solving takes place in situations where the learner draws on his past experiences and existing knowledge to discover facts and relationships  and new truths to be learned.  As a result,  students may be more likely to remember concepts and knowledge discovered on their own (Bruner, 1967). The theory is applicable to this study because of its self- discovery emphasis which guided-discovery is situated upon. The use of guided discovery method  will likely contribute positively  to the academic achievement, interest and knowledge retention of students in financial accounting in colleges of education.

College  of education  is a tertiary  institution  or post-secondary  institution in Nigerian education system. Aliyu (2001 ), outlined the objectives of tertiary institutions including colleges of education  to  include:  the  acquisition,  development  and  inculcation  of the  proper  value• orientation  for the survival  of the individual  and society;  the development  of the intellectual

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capacities of individuals to understand and appreciate their environments; the acquisition of both physical and intellectual skills which will enable individuals  to develop into useful members of the community; and the acquisition of an objective view of the world and external environments. Colleges of education play the role of the production  of middle level personnel for commerce, industry, agriculture, health and teaching.

Colleges of education are established with the main purpose of training teachers for the growing numbers of primary and post primary institution in Nigeria.  According to the national council for colleges of education (2012), the philosophy  of the Nigeria certificate in education (vocational  technical  education),  which  is  awarded  by  Colleges  of Education  is  to provide technical  and  vocational  teachers  with  the  intellectual  and  professional  background  that  is adequate  for teaching  technical  and vocational  subjects  and to make  them  adaptable  to any changing situation in technological development not only in the country but also in the world at large.  Colleges of education are the first tier of tertiary institutions in Nigeria which run regular teachers  training  and  development  programs  as  structured  to  strike  a balance  between  the knowledge  of the subject matter and the instructional  methodologies.  Federal government  and state government  own and run colleges of education.  Some of these colleges of education run business education programmes which financial accounting is a part.

Leaming in Colleges of Education should be designed in such a way that must encourage students’ academic achievement, interest and knowledge retention in courses including financial accounting. However, the poor performance  of Colleges of Education  students in North-West Nigeria in financial accounting puts a question mark on the lecture method of teaching which is widely used by financial accounting lecturers in the Zone (see Appendix A:  121).  The effect of this in financial accounting  is that many students graduate with very low grade in the course

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while some have to repeat the course several times before passing it.  Most of the researcher’s colleagues during his course of interaction with them, attribute this to lack of effective use of appropriate teaching methods. As a result,  some students develop high anxiety towards failure in the course that technically  makes  financial  accounting  uninteresting  and difficult for them to retain  information  learned.  It  was  also  revealed  that  lecturers  lecture  students  using  the conventional lecture methods.  A change of strategy in teaching financial accounting in colleges of education,  therefore,  become necessary,  if the objectives  of teaching financial accounting in colleges of education are to be achieved.  Cantell (2004) maintained  that conventional  lecture method may not adequately equip teachers with contemporary views of learners’ intelligence and the vast learning  ability.   Conventional  methods  mostly  adopted  by lecturers  in Colleges  of Education for the teaching of financial accounting may make students lose interest in the subject. This might give rise to negative attitudes such as sleeping during the lesson and avoiding classes. Sharan (2010) noted that the Conventional methods often frustrate  students by making learning difficult, disinterested with lower knowledge retention. The pertinent question therefore is; what other teaching  method  a part  from the conventional  lecture method  would  improve  students’ academic achievement, interest and knowledge  retention  in financial accounting?  Can guided• discovery method  help financial  accounting  students to increase their  academic  achievement, interest and knowledge retention in the subject? This study, therefore, investigated the effect of guided  discovery  method  of teaching  on  Colleges  of Education  (COE)  students’  academic achievement, interest and knowledge retention in financial accounting in North-West Nigeria

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Statement of the Problem

National  Certificate  in Education  (NCE)  graduates  in accounting  are expected  to have acquired  the  required  knowledge  and  skills  in  preparing  accounting  records  and  financial statements  for small  scale enterprises.  The NCE  accounting  graduates  are prepared  to teach financial accounting in secondary schools, for self-employment or paid employment in the public or  private  sector.  Unfortunately,  these  objectives   are  still  far  from  being  achieved  most importantly when one looks at the performances  of NCE financial accounting graduates in their examination.

Most of these graduates do not perform academically up to their abilities.  Though some of these students usually pass out successfully from the system, the overall performance of many of them does not always reflect the level expected of them.  Many of them are unemployed and a few that managed to be employed are disengaged too early by their employers because of lack of or poor quality of skills. The employers see majority of the graduates as incompetent in the work to which they are employed.  Even those that are self-employed  have been observed  to close down their business as a result of poor patronage occasioned by poor performance.

The poor performance  and incompetence  of the graduates  may be due to the  level of instructions they obtained in the colleges. The incompetence of the graduates may also be related to their level of academic performance  while they were in the College.   For example, the five year summary  of results  from colleges  of education  in the North  West zone of Nigeria  with exception of Kebbi State which does not offer  financial accounting  in their college shows that most of the students performed below average.  The poor performance  by students in financial accounting could be due to some certain factors which might include: poor teaching methods and

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techniques. It is common place in the Colleges of Education that the students are taught financial accounting courses through the lecture method, which is teacher-centred.

It  is worrisome  that from literature  and observation  by the researcher, the teaching  of Financial  Accounting  in many  COE  especially  in the North-West, Nigeria  is based more  on lecture method.  Parents, employers of labour lecturers and researchers are not very certain if this would ne wholly responsible  for students’ poor academic achievement  in financial accounting. The researcher  is posed  to ask. Would  the adoption  of innovative  teaching  methods  that are student-centred  yield improvement  on students’  academic  achievement?  It  is in view  of this concern that is this study was carried out to find out the effect of guided-discovery method on the interest,  academic  achievement   and  knowledge  retention  of COE  in  Financial  Accounting students in North-West Nigeria.

Purpose of the Study

The main purpose of this study is to determine the effects of guided-discovery method on students’  interest,  academic  achievement  and knowledge  retention  in financial  accounting  in Colleges of Education (COE) in North West zone.  Specifically, the study sought to:

1.    determine the difference  between effect of guided-discovery  method and lecture method on the interest of Colleges of Education (COE) students taught trading account of a Small Scale Enterprise (SSE).

2.   determine the difference  between effect of guided-discovery  method and lecture method on the academic achievement of COE students taught trading account of a SSE

3.   determine the difference between  effect of guided-discovery  method and lecture method on knowledge retention of COE students taught trading account of a SSE

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4.   determine the difference  between effect of guided-discovery  method and lecture method on interest of COE students taught profit and loss account of a SSE

5.   determine the difference  between effect of guided-discovery  method and lecture method on academic achievement of COE students taught profit and loss account of a SSE.

6.   determine the difference  between effect of guided-discovery  method and lecture method on knowledge retention of COE students taught profit and loss account of a SSE.

7.    determine the difference between effect of guided-discovery  method and lecture method on interest of COE students taught balance sheet of a SSE.

8.    determine the difference  between effect of guided-discovery   on academic achievement of COE students taught balance sheet of a SSE.

9.   determine the difference  between effect of guided-discovery  method and lecture method on knowledge retention of COE students taught balance sheet of a SSE.

Significance of the Study

The findings of this study will be of significant benefits to students, teachers,  college of education   administrators,   curriculum   planners,   government,   and  national   commission   for colleges of education and future researchers.

The findings of the study will be of benefit  to students because it will enable them to have  full  understanding   of what  they  were  taught,  improve  their  skills  and  attitude,  hence eliminating rote memorization.  Similarly,  the result of the study will be of benefit  to financial accounting teachers because it will expose them to the use of innovative methods  in teaching financial accounting for increased achievement,  interest and knowledge retention of students in financial accounting.   The result will also help the teachers to know their areas of weakness and strength as well as interest and retention level of their students with regard to guided-discovery

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method. This can help the teachers to plan their lesson better.  It will also help them to know the appropriate teaching methods to adopt at any particular time for any particular topic to meet the learners’ needs and abilities. The teacher will know the necessary instructional materials that will enhance their teaching and make it effective through a student-centred method of teaching.  The knowledge of the findings will help the teachers to regularly update themselves with innovative teaching methods such as guided-discovery method.

Furthermore, the findings of this research will also be of immense benefit to curriculum planners who will be stimulated to develop a curriculum that will be relevant to the need of the students,  increase  their  effectiveness   and  make  the  learning  process  become  flexible  to  the students. The findings of the study will assist curriculum planners in the review and update of the curriculum.  They will use the knowledge of the findings to include innovative teaching methods in the curriculum.

The findings  of this study will be useful  to college  of education  administration  when making policies in relation to instructional delivery in financial accounting.  The study will also help  the  college  administrators  to  see the  needs  to  allocate  appropriate  resources  to  ensure effective use of students centred instructional methods. The college administration will, based on the result of the study,  organize programmes  to retrain the financial accounting teachers on the use of innovative method for teaching.

The findings will provide useful information  to the national commission  for colleges of education  (NCCE)  on result-  oriented  methods  and  strategies  that  can  be used  by financial accounting teachers in colleges of education. The information provided by the study will serve as feedback  that  could  be used  in drafting  policies  on instructional  methods  and  strategies  for colleges of education in many related subjects.  The commission will through the findings of the

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study,  provide  the necessary  materials  and resources  that will help the teachers  in the use of innovative methods in the teaching of financial accounting in the colleges.

The findings of this study promote Brunner theory of discovery learning which this study anchored  on.  The theory  states that, practice  and  self- discovery  teaches  students  to acquire information  on  their  own.  The  result  of this  study  will  also  provide  opportunities  for  the application of the theory in colleges of education.  The principles of the theory involve the active participation  of the  learner,  and it is capable  of arousing  the  curiosity  of the  learner  as he manipulates certain practical skills.

Researchers will also find the result of this study useful. The results of the study when published  will serve as a source of literature to researchers  on related studies.  The outcome of this study will provide information for qualitative research work to future researchers.

Research Questions

The following research questions guided the study:

1.    What is the difference between effect of guided-discovery  method and lecture method on interest of Colleges of Education (COE) students taught trading account of a small scale enterprise (SSE)?

2.   What is the difference between effect of guided-discovery  method and lecture method on academic achievement of COE students taught trading account of a SSE?

3.   What is the difference between effect of guided-discovery  method and lecture method on knowledge retention of COE students taught trading account of a SSE?

4.   What is the difference between effect of guided-discovery  method and lecture method on interest of COE students taught profit and loss account of a SSE?

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5.   What is the difference between effect of guided-discovery  method and lecture method on academic achievement of COE students taught profit and loss account of a SSE?

6.   What is the difference between effect of guided-discovery  method and lecture method on knowledge retention of COE students taught profit and loss account of a SSE?

7.   What is the difference between effect of guided-discovery  method and lecture method on interest of COE students taught balance sheet of a SSE?

8.   What is the difference between effect of guided-discovery  method and lecture method on academic achievement of COE students taught balance sheet of a SSE?

9.   What is the difference between effect of guided-discovery  method and lecture method on knowledge retention of COE students taught balance sheet of a SSE?

Hypotheses

The following null hypotheses postulated were tested at 0.05 level of significance.

Ho,  There  is no  significant  difference  between  the  post-test  mean  scores  effect  of guided• discovery method and lecture method on interest of COE students taught trading account of a small scale enterprise using.

Ho     There is no significant  difference between  the post-test  mean scores effect of guided• discovery method and lecture method on achievement   of Colleges of Education (COE) students taught trading account of a small scale enterprise.

Ho,     There  is no significant  difference between  the post-test  mean  scores  effect of guided• discovery method  and lecture method  on knowledge  retention  of COE students taught trading account of a small scale enterprise

Ho,     There is no significant  difference between  the post-test  mean scores  effect of guided• discovery method and lecture method on interest of COE students taught profit and loss account of a small scale enterprise.

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Hos      There is no significant  difference between  the post-test  mean scores effect of guided• discovery method and lecture method on achievement of COE students taught profit and loss account of a small scale enterprise

Ho¢     There is no significant  difference between  the post-test  mean scores  effect of guided• discovery method  and lecture method  on knowledge  retention  of COE students taught profit and loss account of small scale enterprise.

Ho,     There is no significant  difference between  the post-test  mean scores  effect of guided• discovery method and lecture method on interest of COE students taught balance sheet of small scale enterprise.

Hog     There  is no significant  difference between  the post-test  mean scores  effect of guided• discovery method and lecture method on academic achievement of COE students taught balance sheet of small scale enterprise

Hoo     There is no significant  difference between  the post-test  mean scores effect of guided• discovery method  and lecture method  on knowledge  retention  scores of COE students taught balance sheet of small scale enterprise

Delimitation of the Study The study is delimited to the investigation  of the effect of guided-discovery  method on colleges  of education  students’  interest,  academic  achievement,  and  retention  in  financial accounting.  The study used students mean scores from pre-test  and post-test  to determine  the effect of guided-discovery  methods on students’ academic achievement, interest and retention in financial accounting. The students were taught and assessed on final accounts of a small scale enterprise.  The study also use  100  level NCE  students  for the experiment.  The geographical scope  is  restricted  to  nine  Colleges  of Education  in  North  West  Nigeria  where  Financial Accounting is taught.

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