Abstract
The study examined the effect of gender on studentsâ achievement in stoichiometry using hands-on activities. A sample of 292 students from eight purposively selected secondary schools out of a population of 8,381 SS II students from zone C of Benue State, Nigeria was used for the study. The study adopted a quasi-experimental research design. Stoichiometry Achievement Test (SAT) was used for data collection. Reliability coefficient of 0.92 was established using Pearson correlation moment coefficient. Two research questions and two hypotheses guided the study. The research questions were answered using mean and standard deviation while the hypotheses were tested at 0.05 level of significance using Analysis of covariance (ANCOVA). The study revealed that there is no significant difference in the mean achievement scores between male and female students taught stoichiometry using hands-on activities; (F(1, 145) = 4.160, p>0.05). It also found no significant interaction effect between methods and gender on the mean achievement scores of students in stoichiometry; (F(1, 291) = 0.11, p>0.05). It was recommended among others that since hands-on activities method is not gender sensitive therefore both male and female students should be involved in hands-on activities to enhance their achievement in stoichiometry.
Highlights
The development of any nation depends largely on the level of education attained by her citizens especially in the area of science and technology
The following research questions guided this study: 1. What is the difference in the mean achievement scores between male and female students taught Stoichiometry using hands-on activities? 2
The findings of this study revealed that male students achieved slightly higher scores than their female counterparts using hands-on activities but Analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) test shows that the difference was not significant
Summary
The development of any nation depends largely on the level of education attained by her citizens especially in the area of science and technology. Education is an instrument “par excellence” for effective national development [14]. It is highly rated as the most important instrument of change since any definite change in the intellectual and social outlook of the people must be preceded by an educational revolution [11]. In cognizance with the importance of science and technological in Nigeria, science subjects such as chemistry are taught in secondary schools to prepare a base for any science and technological development [6]. The West African Examination Council (WAEC) Chief Examiners report [21] on Chemistry results indicates that students are weak in stoichiometry concepts in the Senior Secondary School Certificate (SSCE) Chemistry syllabus. The WAEC Chief Examiner’s attributed the poor achievement of students due to their unfamiliarity with the use of simple laboratory equipment, inadequate exposure to laboratory techniques, lack of observational skills, omission of units in calculated values, inability to write chemical equation correctly, assign correct charges to ions as well as inability to carry out simple calculations among others
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