UNIZIK Journal of STM Education

EFFECT OF DIFFERENTIATED SCIENCE INQUIRY ON ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT AND CREATIVE THINKING SKILLS OF CHEMISTRY STUDENTS IN ANAMBRA STATE, NIGERIA

Chidozie A. OKEKE — 2022-12-15

This study investigated the effect of differentiated science inquiry (DSI) on academic achievement and creative thinking skills of chemistry students in Anambra State. To achieve the purpose of the study, two research questions were drawn and three hypotheses formulated and tested at 0.05 level of significance. The study adopted quasi experimental design. The population of the study was all the SS3 chemistry students in Aguata education zone totaling 2,278 students from 60 public schools in the zone. Multi-stage sampling procedure was used to obtain 72 (SS3) senior secondary III chemistry students. Two intact classes made up the sample. By a throw of coin, one intact class of 37 was used as control group while the other of 35 was used as the experimental group. The experimental group was taught using DSI while the control group was taught using lecture method of instruction. Chemistry Achievement Test (CAT) and Creative Thinking Skill Test (CTST) were used to collect the data for the study. The instruments were validated by experts and their reliability was established at 0.89 and 0.97 respectively. The data obtained for the study were analyzed using mean and standard deviation to answer the research questions and analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) wa2s used to test the hypotheses at 0.05 level of significance. The findings revealed that differentiated science inquiry teaching method was more effective in enhancing students’ academic achievement and creative thinking skills in chemistry than lecture method of instruction. There was significant difference in the creative thinking skill of the male and female students taught chemistry using differentiated science inquiry. There was improvement in the creative thinking skill for the male students than that of the female students taught chemistry using differentiated science inquiry. The study also revealed that there was no significant interaction effect of gender and teaching method on students’
creative thinking skill. Based on the findings, recommendations were made among which are chemistry teachers should adopt the use of differentiated science inquiry in their classroom instruction in order to enhance students’ academic achievement and creative thinking skill in the subject.

PHYSICS TEACHERS PERCEPTION ON THE RELEVANCE OF THEIR UNIVERSITY TEACHER TRAINING PROGRAMMME IN TEACHING OF PHYSICS CONTENTS IN SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN ANAMBRA STATE

Christopher C. IZUAKOR — 2022-12-15

The study determined the physics teachers’ perception on the relevance of physics contents of university teachers training programme in teaching of physics contents in secondary schools in Anambra State. The study adopted a descriptive survey research design, guided by three research questions. The entire population of this study 156 physics teachers in Anambra State (male: 79 and female: 77) in the 261 secondary schools in Anambra State was used without sampling. This is because the population was considered small and not all the schools have physics teachers. The instrument for the study was Teachers Perception on the Relevance of Physics Contents of their Training Program Questionnaire (TPRPCTPQ) adopted from Buabeng, Conner and winter (2016) and modified to suit the present study. The instrument was subjected to face validitation. The instrument was given to experts in measurement and evaluation from Nnamdi Azikiwe University, one science education lecturer from Nnamdi Azikiwe University. The internal consistency of the instrument was determined using conbranch’s alpha. The coefficient of 0.74 was obtained. Data collected was analyzed using mean and standard deviation. The findings of result show among others that Physics teachers in secondary schools in Anambra state have a very high relevance perception on the use of physics contents of university teachers training programme in teaching of physics contents in
secondary schools in Anambra State and that Greater percentage of physics teachers in secondary schools in Anambra state are not professionally trained as physics educationalist. Based on the findings, it was recommended among others that Physics lecturers in
Universities should continue to implement the Benchmark Minimum Academic Standard for undergraduate physics programme in Nigeria universities curriculum planned effectively since it is of very high relevance to the teaching of physics contents in secondary school.

COMPARATIVE EFFECTS OF TEACHING WITH IMPROVISED INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIALS AND STANDARD INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIALS ON SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS' ACADEMIC RETENTION IN CHEMISTRY

Maxwell C. OBIKEZIE — 2022-12-15

This study investigated the comparative effect of teaching with improvised instructional materials and standard instructional materials on secondary school students' academic retention in Chemistry. It covered the topics; acids, bases and acid- base reactions. Two
research questions and two hypotheses were used to guide the study, relevant literatures were also reviewed. The study was carried out in Awka education zone in Anambra State. The population of the study consists of 8,583 SS1 Chemistry students in the zone. The sample size for the study comprised of 192 SS1 Chemistry students. The study adopted quasiexperimental design. Four purposively selected co-educational schools were used for the study of which students of chemistry in two schools were assigned to experimental group which received treatment of involvement in teaching Chemistry using improvised instructional materials and the other two schools were assigned to control group which were taught using standard instructional materials. Twenty- five (25) Chemistry Retention Test (CRT) was used as the instrument. The instrument was validated by experts in science education department and education foundation (measurement and evaluation) CRT reliability was established using Kudar Richardson 20 (KR-20) which yielded reliability coefficient of 0.81. Mean and standard deviation were used to answer the research questions while analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) was used to test the hypotheses at .05 level of significance. The findings of the study revealed that, there was high knowledge retention when Chemistry students were taught using improvisation instructional material than those taught with standard instructional material and gender has no influence on use of improvised instructional material and standard instructional material. Based on the findings of the study, recommendations were made.

COMPARATIVE EFFECTIVENESS OF MATHEMATICS AND BIOLOGY TEACHERS’ LESSON STUDY ON STUDENTS’ ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE

Segun F. OLUWANIFE — 2022-12-15

Teachers collaboratively working to develop and execute classroom instructions until it has been fine-tuned to the greatest extent possible while also collecting data on how well the lessons performs is critical to improving students' performance. This study focused on the comparative effectiveness of mathematics and biology teachers’ lesson study on students’ academic performance. The research design used in the study is quasi-experimental design of the pretest and posttest control group. A sample of 102 senior secondary school students and 10 (5 mathematics and 5 biology) teachers were selected from two secondary schools in Ekiti State Nigeria. The two schools were purposively selected; the school selected must have more than four mathematics and four biology teachers. The intact classes of the selected schools were used in the study. Three research instruments were used for data collection namely; Mathematics Performance Test (MPT), Biology Performance Test (BPT) and Lesson Study Inventory (LSI). Kudar-Richardson 20 (KR-20) was used to determine the reliability coefficient of the MPT and BPT after administering it to 20 students outside the study area. The analysis yielded a reliability coefficient of 0.741 and 0.796 for MPT and BPT respectively. The MPT and BPT were administered to the students as a pretest before the treatment and as a posttest after the treatment, while data was collected from the instruments.
Mean, standard deviation and bar charts, t-test, Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA) and Estimated Marginal Means (EMM) were used to analyze the data collected. The study revealed that teachers’ lesson study significantly affect the students’ mathematics performance (F(2, 99) = 185.915; p<0.05); teachers’ lesson study significantly affect the students’ biology performance (F(2, 99) = 616.335; p<0.05); there was a significant difference between the academic performance of students whose teachers engage in lesson study in mathematics and biology (t = 12.562; df = 90; P < 0.05) in favour of biology. It was recommended that mathematics and biology teachers should regularly engage in lesson study over a long period.

EFFECTS OF BRAINSTORMING AND THINK-PAIR-SHARE INSTRUCTIONAL STRATEGIES ON SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS ACHIEVEMENT IN BIOLOGY IN AWKA EDUCATION ZONE

Onyinye A. OGBAGA — 2022-12-15

The study investigated the effects of brainstorming and Think-pair-share instructional strategies on secondary school students’ achievement in Biology in Awka Education Zone. Three research questions guided the study and three hypotheses were tested at 0.05 alpha level of significance. A quasi- experimental design using 3×2 factorial was adopted, specifically the pretest-posttest non-equivalent control group was used. Population of the study was 4023 SS 2 students offering Biology for 2019/2020 academic section in the zone. A sample of 139 SS2 Biology students from three schools obtained using purposive and random sampling were involved in the study. The instrument used for data collection was Biology Achievement Test (BAT), validated by two lecturers in Departments of Science Education and Educational Foundations of Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka and one experienced secondary school Biology teacher. Reliability was established using Kuder Richardson 21(KR-21) for BAT which yielded coefficient of 0.71. The two experimental groups were taught using Brainstorming and think-pair-share instructional strategies respectively while the control group was taught using conventional strategy. This treatment lasted for six weeks. The students were given pretest, posttest and delayed posttest
after two weeks of treatment. The data collected were analysed using mean and standard deviation to answer the research questions while analysis of covariance was used to test the null hypotheses. Findings of the study revealed that there was significant differences in the mean academic achievement scores of students taught using brainstorming and think-pair-share strategies than those taught using conventional strategy, but had no significant effect on male and female students. It was recommended among others that seminars, workshops and conferences should be organized by school heads to orient Biology teachers on how to use brainstorming and think-pair-share instructional strategies in teaching.

ACHIEVEMENT MOTIVATION AND SELF-CONCEPT AS PREDICTOR OF ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT OF SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS IN BIOLOGY IN ANAMBRA

Blessing O. NWOSU — 2022-12-15

The study investigated Achievement motivation and self-concept as predictor of academic achievement of secondary school students in biology in Anambra state. Three research questions and three hypotheses guided the study. The correlational survey design was adopted for the study. The population of the study was 4,603 senior secondary school year two (SS2) biology students in Awka Education Zone. A sample of 720 SS2 biology students was involved in the study. The instrument for data collection were Achievement Motivation Scale (AMS) and Selfconcept Questionnaire (SCQ) validated by three experts in Department of Science Education and
Measurement and Evaluation. The student’s achievement scores were obtained from school’s biology student’s diary. The reliability was established using Cronbach Alpha which yielded 0.713and 0.701 for achievement motivation scale and Self-concept Questionnaire respectively. The data were analyzed using Pearson Correlation Coefficients and multiple regressions. The findings of the study revealed achievement motivation and self-concept correlated students’ academic achievement in biology significantly. The implication of the study was stressed. The study recommended that achievement motivation and self-concept should be enhanced by using
appropriate teaching and counseling strategies.

PERCEPTION OF CHEMISTRY TEACHERS ON SECONDARY SCHOOL CHEMISTRY CURRICULUM: THE NEED FOR ITS REFORM

Evelyn O. EGOLUM — 2022-12-15

The study investigated the perception of chemistry teachers on secondary school chemistry curriculum in terms of its content, relevance, adequacy and the need for reform. Four research questions guided the study. The design for the study was a descriptive survey. A sample of 148 chemistry teachers randomly sampled from 86 secondary schools drawn out of the 229 government owned secondary schools in Anambra state was used for the study. A validated questionnaire which had a reliability index of 0.89 using Cronbach Alpha technique was used to collect data for the study. The data collected were analyzed using mean, standard deviation, frequency and percentages. The results revealed that the chemistry teachers used for the study perceived that the chemistry curriculum used in secondary schools is overloaded with many contents that cannot be covered within the stipulated time, some topics are too abstract for the students to understand so they suggested that some of the contents need to be reformed to make the teaching of chemistry relevant, adequate and one that can instill skills in students. They also suggested that concepts on environmental changes and of our immediate societal concerns should be included in the curriculum to prepare students to be able to solve the problems of their immediate environment and that of the society as the need arises when they graduate. The researchers recommended among others that the topics in the chemistry curriculum should be reduced and topical issues relevant to our environment should be included in the curriculum.

EFFECT OF INTEGRATIVE TEACHING APPROACH ON SENIOR SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS ATTITUDE TOWARDS MATHEMATICS IN IJEBU ODE LOCAL GOVERNMENT OF OGUN STATE

A. A. ASANRE — 2022-12-15

In this paper the effectiveness of integrative teaching method on senior secondary school students’ attitude towards where examined. The sample was made up of eighty (80) SS2 students selected from two intact classes from different schools, where one served as
experimental group and the other control group. Mathematics Attitude Scale was used to collect data on the attitude of the students alongside the treatment package for the experimental group and conventional approach for the control group. Data collected were
analyzed using ANCOVA and results showed that integrative teaching method had significant effect on the attitude of students towards mathematics in the senior secondary school while gender and the interaction effect between gender and treatment had no significant effect on the attitude of students towards mathematics.It is concluded that the treatment is of main significant to the positive attitude of students towards Mathematics, therefore it is recommended among others that teachers and other stake holders should ensure the appropriate use of integrative teaching approach to bring about positive attitude of students towards Mathematics.

SCIENCE EDUCATION FOR NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT AND SCIENETIFIC CREATIVITY AMONG SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS IN NIGERIA

Chris O. OBIALOR — 2022-12-15

This paper discussed science education for national development and scientific creativity among secondary school students in Nigeria. It examined the concepts of science education, scientific creativity and national development. It also highlighted the importance of science education to national development and strategies for enhancing scientific creativity development through science education in Nigeria. The paper recommended among others that Science teachers should adopt activity- oriented teaching strategies in teaching of secondary school science subjects in order to inculcate in the students the necessary skills and knowledge needed for scientific creativity and national development.

BIOLOGY TEACHERS’ PERCEPTIONS ON THE INFLUENCE OF THEIR SELFEFFICACY ON THEIR CLASSROOM PRACTICES IN AWKA SOUTH LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA

Chisom, V. Chukwuemeka — 2022-12-15

The researcher, over time, has observed that poor classroom management, poor students’ engagement as well as poor instructional delivery are huge sources of worry among stakeholders in the secondary education system. Although, there are many variables that may interplay with classroom practices in secondary schools, the researcher is interested in investigating the Biology teachers’ perceptions of the influence of their self-efficacy on their classroom practices in Awka South LGA. Three research questions were raised to guide the study. Survey research design was utilized for the study. The population of the study was made up of 58 Biology teachers in the public secondary schools in Awka South LGA. No sampling was done as the population was of manageable size. Questionnaire titled ‘Perceived Impact of Self-Efficacy on Biology Teachers’ Classroom Practices (PISEBTCP)’ was used for data collection. PISEBTCP was validated by three experts in Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka. The reliability of PISEBTCP which was established using Cronbach alpha statistics yielded alpha coefficient value of 0.83.Data analysis was done using mean. The findings of the study indicated that Biology teachers’ self-efficacy positively influenced their use of instructional strategies, classroom management and student engagement. It was recommended in view of the findings that government should organize seminars and workshops for Biology teachers on the need to exude self-efficacy for efficient use of instructional strategies, classroom management and students’ engagement.

TEACHING CHEMISTRY THROUGH IDENTIFICATION OF SCIENCE PROCESS SKILL INVOLVED IN THE PRODUCTION OF PERFUME USING PINEAPPLE RIND

J. N. Nnoli — 2022-12-15

The study was carried out to determine the science process skills involved in the production of perfume using pineapple rind. The study was an experimental design which employed a sample of one hundred (100) SS2 chemistry students randomly drawn from four coeducation schools in Onitsha Education Zone. Two research questions and one hypothesis guided the study. Process skills observation guide was used to collect the data. The instrument was validated. Mean and standard deviation were used for data analysis and z test was used to test the hypothesis at the significance level of 0.05. From the findings, it was observed that almost all the science process skills listed were involved in the production of perfume using pineapple rind. Gender was not a significant factor in the level of acquisition of the science process skills by students during the production. The findings also showed that perfume as an improvised resource material enhances and increases the students' science process skills and this makes the understanding of chemistry concepts more concrete rather than abstract. Recommendations were however made.

RE–ENGINEERING CHEMISTRY EDUCATION FOR NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT THROUGH DEVELOPMENT OF CREATIVITY SKILLS IN SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS IN ANAMBRA STATE

Evelyn O. EGOLUM — 2022-12-15

The purpose of this study was to find out how chemistry education can be re-engineered for national development through development of creativity skills in secondary school students. Four research questions guided the study. A survey research design was used for the study. The population was all the chemistry teachers in public secondary schools in the six education zones of Anambra State. The sample used for the study was ninety four (94) chemistry teachers selected from the fifty four (54) secondary schools used for the study. A structured questionnaire was used as an instrument to collect data for the study. The instrument was validated by experts and it has a reliability coefficient of 0.83 using Cronbach Alpha technique. The data collected was analyzed using arithmetic mean. The findings of the study among others indicated that the chemistry teachers used for the study were aware of most of the creativity skills that can be used to re-engineer chemistry education for national development but they only teach to develop those skills in their students to a moderate or low extent. Only few of the teachers teach to develop those skills to a high extent. It was recommended among others that practical activities should be introduced and enforced in the teaching and learning of chemistry to develop skills in students.

EFFECT OF MOTHER TONGUE TEACHING STRATEGY ON ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT OF JUNIOR SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS IN MATHEMATICS IN IJEBU ODE, OGUN STATE

A. A. ASANRE — 2022-12-15

The study examined the effect of mother tongue teaching strategy on academic achievement of junior secondary school students' in mathematics. The purpose was to examine the effect of mother tongue teaching strategy on academic achievement of junior secondary school students' in mathematics, to examine the effect of gender on academic achievement of junior secondary school students' in mathematics and to examine the interaction effects between mother tongue teaching strategy and gender on academic achievement of junior secondary school students' in mathematics. The study adopted a pre−test, post−test and control group quasi experimental design. 150 students drawn from junior secondary schools in Ogun State were sampled and used for the study using purposive sampling techniques. A unified scheme of work for the students was utilized for the study. Mathematics Achievement Test (MAT) was used to collect data on students’ achievement, which was validated by the school mathematics teachers, its reliability was ascertained by using split half method and the coefficient obtained was 0.77. The data obtained from the respondents were collated and analyzed using ANCOVA (Analysis of Co-variance). Findings revealed that there is a significant main and interaction effect of mother tongue teaching strategy, mother tongue and gender on the academic achievement of the students’ in mathematics. Based on the findings it is recommended among other things that mother tongue should be employed in the teaching and learning process at junior secondary school level in order to internalize the love for mathematics and make the students mathematics friendly at their age.

COMPARATIVE STUDY OF IDENTIFYING BIOLOGY ESSAY ERROR TYPES COMMITTED BY SCIENCE AND NON-SCIENCE STUDENTS IN SENIOR SECONDARY SCHOOL IN DEKIN

Alice O. ABU — 2022-12-15

This study compared error types committed by science and non-science biology students in Senior Secondary School. The study was conducted in Anyigba, Dekina Local Government Area of Kogi State, Nigeria. Two research questions and one null hypothesis were used for the study. The study population comprise 764 ss2 biology students in public government secondary school in Anyigba while the sample used for the study consist of 240 samples, selected using stratified random sampling from 8 schools. The instrument used for data collection was Biology Test for identification of students essay Error Types developed by the researcher including the marking scheme used for data collection, which have been validated and found reliable at 0.87 using Pearson’s Product Moment Correction Coefficient. The researcher used descriptive survey design. The questions comprised of short answer questions from two topics in the biology syllabus. Data obtained from the science and non-science groups, error types and their frequencies were recorded. The hypothesis was tested using t-test for independent group at 0.05 level of significance. The result showed that there is significant mean difference in the frequency of error types among the science and non-science students in biology essay. Among the findings of the survey result showed that science and non-science senior secondary school ii biology student committed error, the least error included little knowledge of the topic. The most error types included poor approach to answering essay questions, poor expressions of English language, poor understanding of some basic concept in biology, inability to relate biological concepts to given situation,
student depending on root memory rather than understanding biological concept to reason out solutions and student demonstrated lapses in spellings. Based on the findings of this study among others, revealed that secondary school students generally commit a number of errors and there was a significant difference in error types committed by student which also affect their performance in essay examination and hence the students as a whole. It is therefore recommended that biology teachers should teach the possible error type to the students as students awareness of these errors will help them to guide against committing them.

ENHANCING STUDENTS’ ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT IN BASIC SCIENCE THROUGH THE USE OF REFLECTIVE INSTRUCTIONAL STRATEGY

Nnaemeka K. OGUEZUE — 2022-12-15

The effect of reflective instructional strategy was investigated on upper basic VIII students’ achievement in Basic Science in Onitsha Education Zone of Anambra State. Anon-equivalent groups’ quasi-experimental research design was used for the study with a sample size of 89 students. Two research questions and three hypotheses guided the study. Students’ achievement was measured using Basic Science Achievement Test (BSAT). The reliability coefficient of the instrument was established through a pilot study using Kuder-Richardson 20(KR-20) formula, and the instrument was found to be reliable with a coefficient value of 0.83. To answer the research questions, the data were analyzed using mean, standard deviation, and ANCOVA for testing of hypotheses at 0.05 level of significance. The study also recorded no significant difference between male and female students’ achievement. Based on the findings, the study recommended that Basic Science teachers/science educators should adopt reflective instructional strategy as a medium of classroom instruction for teaching science, and basic science in particular.