THE INFLUENCE OF CHEMISTRY TEACHERS’ ATTITUDES ON SENIOR SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS’ ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT IN ELECTROLYSIS IN RIVERS STATE
This paper ex-rayed the impact of chemistry teachers’ attitudes on senior secondary school students’ achievement in electrolysis, a fundamental topic in chemistry. By examining existing literature and conducting empirical research, this study aims to unmask how varying levels of teachers’ attitudes and teacher-student relationships affect students’ comprehension and achievement in this specific area of chemistry. This study employed a mixed-methods approach, combining quantitative and qualitative research methods. The quantitative component involved a test titled “Chemistry Achievement Test (CAT)” to measure students’ academic achievement in electrolysis before and after exposure to different teacher attitudes, while the qualitative component included questionnaire (titled “Students’ Perception of Chemistry Teachers Attitude Towards Electrolysis (SPCTATE)” administered to students and semi-structured interviews conducted with teachers to assess the role of teacher-student interaction in students’ engagement and motivation in learning electrolysis. A random sampling technique was used to select 9 Senior Secondary two (S.S.2) chemistry students from 15 senior secondary schools in Rivers State to make up 135 chemistry students. In contrast, one chemistry teacher was selected from each of the sampled schools, giving 15 chemistry teachers, making the total number of participants 150. The research instruments were face and content validated, using Cronbach’s Alpha, and the test instrument yielded a reliability coefficient of 0.81. The results of the three research questions that guided the study were examined using mean, standard deviation, and thematic analysis, while the hypotheses were analysed using ANOVA and Pearson product-moment correlation. The results showed that the chemistry students taught with positive attitude had a posttest mean score of 75.56, SD of 6.52 and a mean gain score of 53.89, the neutral attitude had a posttest mean score of 56.78, SD of 8.17 and a mean gain score of 34.67 while the negative group had a posttest mean score of 47.67, SD of 6.46 and mean gain score of 26.11. The hypotheses revealed a statistically significant difference in the mean scores of the groups and a strong positive correlation (r = .739) between teachers’ perceived attitude to electrolysis and chemistry students’ achievement in the positive group in electrolysis. Thus, it was recommended that professional development programs should focus on enhancing teachers’ attitudes and instructional techniques to improve students’ engagement and academic achievement.
Keywords: attitude, electrolysis, academic achievement, chemistry, neutral attitude.
ZUDONU, Onisoman Chuks, Ph.D.
THE INFLUENCE OF CHEMISTRY TEACHERS’ ATTITUDES ON SENIOR SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS’ ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT IN ELECTROLYSIS IN RIVERS STATE
This paper ex-rayed the impact of chemistry teachers’ attitudes on senior secondary school students’ achievement in electrolysis, a fundamental topic in chemistry. By examining existing literature and conducting empirical research, this study aims to unmask how varying levels of teachers’ attitudes and teacher-student relationships affect students’ comprehension and achievement in this specific area of chemistry. This study employed a mixed-methods approach, combining quantitative and qualitative research methods. The quantitative component involved a test titled “Chemistry Achievement Test (CAT)” to measure students’ academic achievement in electrolysis before and after exposure to different teacher attitudes, while the qualitative component included questionnaire (titled “Students’ Perception of Chemistry Teachers Attitude Towards Electrolysis (SPCTATE)” administered to students and semi-structured interviews conducted with teachers to assess the role of teacher-student interaction in students’ engagement and motivation in learning electrolysis. A random sampling technique was used to select 9 Senior Secondary two (S.S.2) chemistry students from 15 senior secondary schools in Rivers State to make up 135 chemistry students. In contrast, one chemistry teacher was selected from each of the sampled schools, giving 15 chemistry teachers, making the total number of participants 150. The research instruments were face and content validated, using Cronbach’s Alpha, and the test instrument yielded a reliability coefficient of 0.81. The results of the three research questions that guided the study were examined using mean, standard deviation, and thematic analysis, while the hypotheses were analysed using ANOVA and Pearson product-moment correlation. The results showed that the chemistry students taught with positive attitude had a posttest mean score of 75.56, SD of 6.52 and a mean gain score of 53.89, the neutral attitude had a posttest mean score of 56.78, SD of 8.17 and a mean gain score of 34.67 while the negative group had a posttest mean score of 47.67, SD of 6.46 and mean gain score of 26.11. The hypotheses revealed a statistically significant difference in the mean scores of the groups and a strong positive correlation (r = .739) between teachers’ perceived attitude to electrolysis and chemistry students’ achievement in the positive group in electrolysis. Thus, it was recommended that professional development programs should focus on enhancing teachers’ attitudes and instructional techniques to improve students’ engagement and academic achievement. Keywords: attitude, electrolysis, academic achievement, chemistry, neutral attitude.