THE EFFECT OF INSTRUCTIONAL STRATEGY IN INCORPORATING

LOCAL PRACTICES ON SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS’ INTEREST

AND ACHIEVEMENT IN CHEMISTRY

BY

ABDULMUTALLAB BELLO
abdulmutallabbello3@gmail.com

BSC. EDUCATIONAL PLANNING AND MANAGEMENT

200 LEVEL

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATIONAL PLANNING AND

MANAGEMENT

A TERM PAPER WRITE-UP

AND RESENTATION

SUBMITTED
TO

JOIN PROFESSIONALS TRAINING AND SUPPORT

INTERNATIONAL
KANKIA STUDY CENTRE, KATSINA STATE

JULY, 2021
 ABSTRACT

The study examined the effect of instructional strategy in incorporating local

practices on secondary school students’ interest and achievement in
chemistry. The research design employed in this study was the quasi-
experimental; specifically, pre-test, post test, non equivalent control group
design. A sample of twenty (20) Senior Secondary One (SS1) students drawn
from two co-educational secondary schools in Kusada Local Government,
Nigeria. Four research questions guided the study. An instrument known as
Chemistry Achievement Test (CAT) with a reliability coefficient of 0.79 was
adopted and duly validated by experts. Mean and standard deviation was
used to answer the research questions, while the Analysis of Covariance
(ANCOVA) was used to test the hypotheses at 0.05 level of significant. The
results revealed that students taught using local learning instructional
strategy perform better in Chemistry Achievement Test than those taught
without using local learning instructional strategy. There was no interaction
between methods and gender on students Chamistry Achievement Test.
Based on the result obtained, it was therefore recommended that teachers
should be encouraged to use local instructional strategy to teach chemistry
and other sciences, technology, engineering and mathematics subjects in
secondary schools.

1
1. INTRODUCTION

1.1 General Introduction

Chemistry is the branch of science that deals with the study of the structure

and composition of matter. Chemistry has often being described as the

central science, being that effective study of chemistry lays a solid

foundation for the scientific and technological development of an early

learner in the sciences. Oriaifo (2002) while stressing the importance of

chemistry education noted that chemistry equips the learner with specific

knowledge skills and attitude which enables him/her become useful to

him/her and the society at large. In Nigeria, chemistry as a subject occupies

a prominent position in the nation’s secondary and tertiary curriculum. At

the secondary level of education, a credit pass in chemistry is a pre-requisite

for students to further their studies in fields like Medicine, Pharmacy,

Agriculture, Engineering, Home Economics, Biological Science and other

science related fields of endeavour.

Chemistry do not just start and end in the classroom or school as often

perceived, phenomenon in chemistry are practiced in our day to day lives in

and outside the school. Some of the home chemistry practices are the

process of heating (cooking/warming) of our food, the process of washing

2
our cloths with soap or detergents, addition of limestone when cooking (eg

beans, unripe plantain etc), the process of boiling grinded fresh tomato to

allow the liquid to get dried, addition of salt to perishable food stuffs in

other to preserve them, boiling and filtering of impure water to make it clean

for drinking, the process of putting stainless steel spoon into meat while

boiling, the process of separation of kerosene or petrol from water, the

process of preparation of pap from grounded maize (corn), the process of

spraying insecticides in the house to kill insects, the act of melting ice block

into liquid water for the purpose of drinking, preparation of our African

delicacy fufu through cassava, the burning of materials in the presence of air

(oxygen), the process of rusting of clean nail when it has been exposed to air

and water (chemical change) etc. this is just to mention but a few. This goes

to show that principles in chemistry are applied in our day to day activities

even in our various homes. These principles are not just applied in our urban

areas, even in our local villages chemistry is been practiced. For example, in

most villages local soap is made from ashes of burnt plantain peels and used

(or bleached) palm oil, quality drinking water has long been a problem in

our local villages so most often people in the rural areas use alum to purify

there drinking water, virtually all the different cooking practices in the local

villages are based on chemistry phenomenon.

3
As important as the subject is and in spite of its day to day applications

students’ achievement has long been poor and unsatisfactory year after year

(Inomiesa and Unuero, 2003; Udo, 2008; WAEC Chief Examiners report

2007,2008, 2009 and 2010; Ogbu, 2012; Omoifo 2012). WAEC,2009

revealed that weaknesses associated with the performance of candidates in

chemistry were attributed to lack of relevant textbooks, inadequate

preparation for examination and non-familiarization with examination

syllabus which was in essence attributed to wrong way and manner teachers

teach chemistry, that the teachings did not stimulate and sustain students’

interest in chemistry (Njoku 2007).The continuous record of students’ poor

performance has attracted a lot of assertions (Nwagbo, 2002&Njoku, 2007).

The steady decline in students’ performance in chemistry and its related

subjects has remained a source of worry to the students, parents, teachers,

government and even Non-Governmental Organizations in Nigeria.

According to Asiyai (2005) teachers on their part have used different

teaching methods such as discussion, questioning, guided discovery,

expository etc. to enhance the standard of achievement of students in

external examinations like West African Examination

Council(WAEC),National Examination Council (NECO) etc.

notwithstanding these methods had not yielded expected results. These

4
teaching methods include the conventional lecture method which is

predominantly used in most Nigerian secondary schools due to the fact that

most of the schools are over populated and the chemistry classes are over

crowed, the chemistry syllabus is wide and the teaching time is often too

short compared to the chemistry scheme, have not been able to salvage the

poor performance in chemistry.(Adesida,Agbaji, Atere-Roberts, Bello,

Dakare, Ihuoma, Kashim, Okonkwo, Otegbeye & Yabaya, 2002).

Interest has a lot to do, if there is going to be a meaningful improvement in

the teaching and learning process of chemistry. According to Graber (2011),

Piaget in 1974 considers interest a decisive factor in the learning process, he

defines interest as the dynamics of assimilation, and every process of

equilibration is based on interest. Together with many other authors it is

believed that developing interest in a topic is an important pre-condition for

self-directed learning as well as an important goal for school learning with

regard to life-long learning, out-of-school behaviour and choice of

profession. Since 1965, Herbart’s modern pedagogy has emphasized the

value of interest not only as a means, but as an educational end in itself.

Modern interest research has confirmed Herbart’s conception, and that

interest-based motivation to learn has positive effect both on the studying

process and on the quantity and quality of learning outcomes (Hidi,

5
Renninger & Krapp, 2004).Due to the steady decline on interest in chemistry

and in the sciences there is a decrease in enrolment in sciences in general

and chemistry in particular. Omoifo (2012), indicated poor enrolment in

sciences and technology education.

The question now is, why is there high rate of poor performance in

chemistry? Why do students have low rate of interest in chemistry? Is it true

that chemistry phenomenon are also practiced at home? Do chemistry go

beyond the four walls of the schools? Do the students know that the process

of heating (cooking/warming) of our popular bean cake (i.emoi-moi, a

common African delicacy) is called water-bath in chemistry? Dothe students

know that the warm feelings they get when they add detergents to small

quantity of water is an illustration of exothermic reaction taking place

between the water molecules and the detergent? Do the students know that

addition of limestone when cooking (eg beans, unripe plantain etc) act as a

method of increasing the rate of the chemical reaction taking place?Do the

students know that the process of boiling grinded fresh tomato to allow

the liquid to get dried leaving only the tomato is an example of separation

technique in chemistry called evaporation process? Do the students know

that the process of putting stainless steel spoon or nail into meat while

boiling increases the rate of reaction and the stainless steel spoon or nail acts

6
as a catalyst? Do the students know that the process of preparation of our

African delicacy fufu through cassava is a chemical process called

fermentation? Do the students know that the burning of materials in the

presence of air (oxygen) is also a chemical phenomenon called combustion?

Do the students know that the process of rusting of clean nail when it has

been exposed to air and water is an example of a chemical change? This is

just to mention but a few common cases whereby students’ home chemistry

(i.e. local practice) is related to their school chemistry. This goes to show

that principles in chemistry are applied in our day to day activities even in

our various homes. Therefore, will incorporating local practices enhance

students’ interest and achievement in chemistry?

1.2 STATEMENT OF PROBLEM

A look through science education literatures in the past two decades and

summaries of chief examiners’ reports of results by external examination

bodies for example West African Examination Council (WAEC), indicate

that all is not well in the teaching and learning process of chemistry. Poor

performance of students in chemistry as a subject is on the rise. On an

average scale, more than 40% of students who sat for chemistry in the senior

secondary school examinations fail. Poor performance as recorded by

7
WACE is also collaborated by results from National Examination Council

(NECO), (Omoifo, 2012).

Poor enrolment in chemistry and its related courses is a clear indication that

there is a great problem of lack of interest. For the fact that chemistry

principles are used in our day to day human activities and its peculiarity in

the field of sciences students ought to be very much interested in chemistry

and the level of enrolment ought to be high. But over the years enrolment in

the subject has been poor, indicating that the level of interest has

significantly dropped. The inability of students to relate chemistry lessons to

local practices in their day to day home environment is also worrisome. Will

incorporating local practices enhance students’ interest and achievement in

chemistry?

To this effect, this study therefore, is an attempt to incorporate local

practices (chemistry at home) in the teaching of chemistry at school.

8
1.3 RESEARCH QUESTIONS

The following research questions will guide the study:

 Will there be a difference in achievement of students taught

chemistry by incorporating local practices (experimental group)

and students taught chemistry without local practices (control

group)?

 Will there be a difference in interest of students taught chemistry

by incorporating local practices (experimental group) and students

taught chemistry without local practices (control group)?

 Will there be gender difference in achievement in incorporating

local practices?

 Will there be gender difference in interest in incorporating local

practices?

1.4 PURPOSE OF THE STUDY

This paper is aimed at finding out the effect of instructional strategy in

cooperating local practises on interest and achievement in chemistry. To

achieve this stated goal, the paper will especially examine the need to ignite,

stimulate and sustain students’ interest towards the learning of the subject. It

9
will also assess the impact of gender and students’ home environment on the

achievement of the students in relation to their disposition and perception of

the subject.

1.5 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

The findings of the study will be significant in the following ways:

1. To the chemistry teacher, this study will generally help in guiding and

directing the teacher in the preparation of the lesson plan in ensuring to

add instructional skills/materials that will relate to students’ local practice

in their home environment to ignite, stimulate, sustain and develop

student’s interest thereby improving the achievement of the students in

chemistry in particular and sciences in general.

2. It will demonstrate to the teachers the need to improvise on instructional

techniques that will relate chemistry to students’ local practices in their

home environment.

3. To the chemistry students, the study will be of immense value to them

since it will bring to their notice that chemistry phenomena in their

lessons are what they are locally used to in their environment, this will

develop genuine interest in chemistry classes if effective and efficient

10
 learning is going to take place, for them to retain what is learnt better and

improve on their achievements.

4. To the curriculum planner, the findings of this study will make it

necessary now than before to specify appropriate instructional strategies

for enhancing students’ interest and making the subject students centered.

This will in turn help teachers/students develop interest in chemistry

classes.

5. To the Government and Non-Governmental Organizations, the findings

of this study will provide a different point of view if the issue of poor

performance of students in chemistry and sciences in general is to be

tackled holistically. It will emphasize the need for organizing policies,

seminars, lectures, workshops, etc. that will be aimed at

developing/improving students interest in chemistry for the nation to

advance to a higher level in science and technology

6. To future researchers, the findings of this study will be a source of

method, materials and reference for studies on similar topics.

2. LITERATURE REVIEW

Chemistry is one of the core science subjects taught at senior secondary

school level in Nigeria(FGN,2004).It is central to many science subjects and

disciplines such as medicine, pharmacy, agriculture, nursing, engineering,

11
geology and so on. Obviously, no student intending to study these

disciplines can be successful without adequate knowledge of chemistry.

Chemistry education is therefore indispensable in the study of many

disciplines which will invariably ensure sustainable national development.

The objectives of teaching chemistry at senior secondary schools level are

spelt out in National Policy on Education (FGN,2004), reinforced by

examination bodies namely, West African Examination

Council(WAEC,2013), curriculum development body such as Nigerian

Educational Research and Development Council (NERDC,2008) as well as

National Examination Council (NECO,2013).These objectives are seen in

terms of the contribution of chemistry to the realization of secondary

education in Nigeria which include: i) understanding of basic chemistry

concepts ii) acquisition of laboratory skills including awareness of hazards

and safety measures iii) awareness of the inter-relationship between

chemistry and other disciplines iv) awareness of the linkage between

chemistry and industry/environment/everyday life in terms of benefits and

hazards v) to develop the skills of critical and logical thinking vi) to develop

reasonable information communication technology appliances that will

engender entrepreneurial skills.

12
Despite the prime position chemistry occupies in our educational system and

the efforts made by researchers and science educators to enhance

performance and process skill acquisition, it is very regrettable that students’

performances in chemistry and sciences in general are still low

(Edomwonyi-otu and Avaa, 2011). The statistics of students’ performances

in Chemistry in West African Senior Secondary School Certificate

Examination (WASSSCE) results of seven consecutive years indicated that

the students who passed Chemistry at credit level and above i.e.(A1-C6) had

consistently being less than 50% (WAEC Chief Examiner’s report, 2009-

2015).Various efforts at improving chemistry education appear to be

inadequate as reflected by persistent poor performance of students in

chemistry (Nonyelum,2015). Chemistry is an experiment-based science

subject, so practical work is very much an integral part of the course and one

of the key aims of the practical course is to develop the skills that an

accomplished practical chemist needs (Natural Science Tripos, 2015).

Practical is considered fundamental and bedrock in teaching and learning of

chemistry (Awa, 2003). Scientist acquires and sustains knowledge through

experimentation (practical) (Achor and Kalu, 2014).It has generally been

observed that students performed poorly in chemistry practical (Achor,

Kurumeh & Orokpo, 2012). It has also been observed that low percentage

13
pass in science subjects at senior secondary school certificate examination

was partially due to errors students made in practical (Lawan, 2006).It

follows therefore that an understanding of a concept in practical chemistry

will assist in enhancing student’s understanding of chemistry (Ikeobi, 2010).

Omolade (2008) states that; if the academic achievement of students is to be

enhanced, learners must have deep understanding of basic concepts behind

practical task they engage in. This is because the observations and

experiments students carry out are meant to confirm some theories and the

application of concepts.

The poor performance in chemistry can cripple the realization of national

goals for scientific and technological development (Njoku and Ezinwa,

2014).Some of the reasons identified for abysmal poor performance include

among others; laboratory inadequacy, teachers’ attitude, abstract and

difficult nature of many chemistry concepts, lack of instructional materials,

examination malpractice, time constraint for conducting of practicals, non-

coverage of syllabus, 7

class size, non-professionalism, environment, poor methods employed by

most chemistry teachers as well as lack of interest among chemistry

students(Njoku,2004 and Jegede,2007). Aluko (2008) and Salau (2009) both

14
considered poor instructional delivery approaches as one of the major factors

contributing to the persistence students’ poor performance. In a similar vein,

the West African Examination Council (WAEC),Chief examiners

report(2006-2010) and a study by Eze and Egbo (2007) have attributed the

observed student’ poor achievement in chemistry to use of inappropriate and

ineffective teaching methods by chemistry teachers. Additionally, Asoko

(2000) cited in NTI (2006) opined that teachers are the key to realizing

curriculum aims and the quality of science instruction which students

receive rest ultimately on their teachers. It is obvious that effective teaching

of science depends on teachers’ skills to use effective instructional delivery

method or combination of methods.

Science Education has its focus on preparing individual with appropriate

skills, abilities and competencies both mental and physical to live and

contribute to the development of the society. Chemistry education is an

integral part of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM)

education. To achieve creativity and overall national development, teaching

strategy that captures interest of secondary school students in science

concepts is imperative.

Many researchers agree that the conventional lecture method does not help

students, construct their own understanding and opined that the uninspiring

15
teaching methods adopted by science teachers lead not only to low

achievement in the science but also incapacitates students from developing

required skills necessary for creative thinking. The lecture method is a

teaching method in which the teacher presents a verbal discourse on a

particular subject, theme or concept to the learners, the teacher deliver

preplanned lessons to the students with little or no instructional aides.

Danmole (2009) noted that teachers need to employ different learning

methods and strategies to ensure students understanding of scientific

concepts. A shift is therefore advocated by researchers to methods that will

enable the learner construct his/her own understanding. Such methods have

their roots in constructivism. This trend is learner centered and among these

strategies is the cooperative learning instructional strategy.

Cooperative learning instructional strategy is the deliberate instructional use

of heterogenous small groups of students who work together to maximize

each other’s learning.

Heterogeneity in grouping can be achieved by combining students of

different sexes, academicability level, ages, religion among others, so that

students can get beyond their initial stereotypes and be able to treat each

other as other science students’ and fellow group members. Cooperative

learning is theoretically based on the work of psychologists like Levi

16
Vigotsky, Jean Piaget among others, who proposed that children actively

construct knowledge in a social context [2]. Individual performance is

deemphasized while team work is promoted. Students are not simply taken

information or ideas; they are creating something new with the information

and ideas. These acts of intellectual processing of constructing meaning are

crucial to learning.

Various researchers have revealed the positive attributes of cooperative

interaction among students as follows: more students learn more materials

when they work together cooperatively; more students are motivated to learn

the material when they work together cooperatively than when they compete

with one another, and also, students develop more positive attitudes to

science when they work together cooperatively than when they work alone.

Also researchers do not agree on sex influence on students’ interest in

science. The likes of Anaekwe believe that sex has no influence on students

interest in science. While Njoku (1999) and Nwachukwu (2000) opined that

there are sex related differences inchemistry interest and performance. A lot

has been done to improve science teaching in secondary schools in Nigeria,

in spite of that, students continue to perform poorly in science subjects of

which chemistry is one. This situation has created the need for more

effective teaching methods.

17
3. METHOD

The quasi experimental, non equivalent pre-test, post-test, control group

research design was used for the study. A sample of one hundred and one

(20) senior secondary one (SSI) students drawn from 2 co-educational

secondary schools in Kusada LGA, were used for the study. The sample

simple random sampling technique was adopted in drawing the sample. One

of the schools was assigned to experimental treatment and the other one was

assigned to control group. In each of the schools sampled, a stream of SSI

was randomly sampled for experimental treatment and control respectively.

The instrument used for data collected was Chemistry Achievement Test

(CAT) constructed by the researcher based on the chemistry topics of

Qualitative and Quantitative Analysis taught which was part of SSI

chemistry curriculum. Split half reliability technique was used to estimate

the reliability of the CAT. The score were correlated using Spearman Rank

Order coefficient of correlation. The split half reliability coefficient was

found to be 0.79.

4. EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE

The regular chemistry class teachers were used for the study in both

experimental and control groups. Before the experiment in each of the

sampled schools, the students’ continuous assessment and terminal

18
examination scores were used to stratify the students into ability group

(high, middle and low). Then, groups of mixed abilities were formed in the

class. Training was given to the chemistry teacher who took the

experimental group on the application of the instructional approach, while

the chemistry teacher who took the control group used the conventional

method. The teacher explained the effect of instructional strategy in

incorporating local practices on secondary school students’ interest and

achievement in chemistry.

The lecture method was used in the control group without stratifying the

students. The experimental class teacher was given note of lesson prepared

by the researcher while the researcher vetted the lesson plan prepared by the

chemistry teacher in the control group to ensure that the teacher did not

deviate from the procedures of instructions commonly used by chemistry

teachers. Chemistry achievement test (CAT) was used for both pre-test

before treatment and post-test after treatment.

5. RESULT

RESEARCH QUESTION 1: Is there any difference in achievement of

students taught chemistry by incorporating local practices (experimental

19
group) and students taught chemistry without local practices (control

group)?

Research question 1 asked if there any difference in achievement of students

taught chemistry by incorporating local practices (experimental group) and

students taught chemistry without local practices (control group), and the

responses are that the experimental pretest and post test mean scores are

8.1461 and 17.3559 with standard deviation scores of 2.74551 and 2.67420

respectively. The mean achievement gain for the treatment group was 9.22

while the mean gain in the control group was 3.51 indicating that there is

significant difference in the achievement of students taught chemistry by

incorporating local (experimental group) than those taught without local

practices (control group).

RESEARCH QUESTION 2: Is there any difference in interest of students

taught chemistry by incorporating local practices (experimental group) and

students taught chemistry without local practices (control group)?

Research question 1 asked if there any difference in achievement of students

taught chemistry by incorporating local practices (experimental group) and

students taught chemistry without local practices (control group), and the

responses are that the experimental pretest and post test mean scores are

20
8.2174 and 2.64500with standard deviation scores of 2.23002 and 7.5152

respectively. The mean achievement gain for the treatment group was 9.22

while the mean gain in the control group was 3.51 indicating that there is

significant difference in the interest of students taught chemistry by

incorporating local (experimental group) than those taught without local

practices (control group).

6. DISCUSSION

The findings of this study as gotten from the research questions indicated

that indicating that there is significant difference in the achievement of

students taught chemistry by incorporating local (experimental group) than

those taught without local practices (control group). This result is in line

with Igboanugo (2009) who reported that cooperative learning is more

efficacious in capturing students’ interest than conventional teaching method

in difficult chemistry concepts. In the case of gender, the ANCOVA result

reveals that there is no significant difference between the male and female

students mean score on CAT. This result is in accordance with Nwagbo and

Chikelu (2009) who found no significant difference in the achievement of

male and female students in science subjects.

Again, there was no interaction between teaching methods and genders on

students CAT. This result agrees with Iloputaife (1996) and Nwagbo and

21
Chikelu (1999) who found no significant interaction between instructional

method and gender on performance in science subjects.

7. CONCLUSION

The findings of this study revealed that students taught chemistry by

incorporating local (experimental group) perform better than those taught

without local practices (control group). Also, there was no interaction

between methods and gender on students’ chemistry achievement test.

8. RECOMMENDATIONS

Based on the findings, of the study the following recommendations are

proffered:

1. Teachers should be encouraged to use cooperative instructional

strategy to teach chemistry and other science, technology, engineering

and mathematics subjects in secondary schools.

2. In service training in the form of workshops, conferences, seminars

should be organized by governments to equip teachers to incorporate

local learning instructional strategy in science teaching.

3. Science educators and curriculum planners should incorporate

innovative pedagogical strategies like local learning instructional

strategy into their various teacher education programmes.

22
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