Abstract
The study examined the level of implementation of chemistry curriculum by teachers and the available material resources necessary for the implementation of the curriculum in Nigeria. The study adopted a survey design. A sample of 250 chemistry teachers in Nigeria were used for the study. The instrument tagged “Chemistry Curriculum Implementation and Material Resources Questionnaire (CCIMRQ) was used for study. CCIMRQ was prepared by the researcher and validated by experts in curriculum studies with a reliability co-efficient of 0.78. Data collected were analyzed using frequency counts, percentages and t-test. Results showed that more than 30% of Chemistry teachers in secondary schools in Nigeria did not implement effectively the four themes in the curriculum as they tend to skip some difficult concepts in the curriculum. Also, results of t-test analysis (t = 3.01, p=0.03) revealed that there was a significant difference between the teachers’ view on the problem militating against the implementation of chemistry curriculum and the adequacy of material resources. The study concluded that some chemistry teachers in Nigeria did not implement the chemistry curriculum effectively due to inadequate material resources and lack of mastery of the subject matter. To meet the challenges for the 21st century, chemistry teachers in Nigeria should be exposed to capacity building on the subject matter and be retrained on how to handle difficult concepts in the chemistry curriculum.
Highlights
Science is studied and practiced in all parts of the world, including Nigeria which is a developing nation with an increasing demand for science based skilled manpower
Two research questions were raised (i) What is the level of implementation of the National Chemistry Curriculum by chemistry teachers in secondary schools in Nigeria? (ii) How adequate are the available material resources for the teaching of chemistry curriculum in Secondary Schools in Nigeria? One hypothesis was generated for the study. - There is no significant difference between the teachers’ view on the problems militating against the implementation of chemistry curriculum and the adequacy of material resources for the teaching of chemistry in Secondary Schools in Nigeria
Above, the t-value of 3.01 was significant at 0.03 level. This shows that there was a significant difference between the mean score of teachers’ view on the problems militating against the implementation of chemistry curriculum (X=42.55) and the adequacy of material resources for the implementation of chemistry curriculum (X = 46.26)
Summary
Science is studied and practiced in all parts of the world, including Nigeria which is a developing nation with an increasing demand for science based skilled manpower. How well the teacher carries out the planned activities are determined by the teacher’s mastery of the content, professional training, competence, initiative, interest and motivation Some factors such as students’ interest, readiness, physical environment, availability and adequacy of learning materials and equipment could be affecting the effectiveness of classroom situation and the learning of chemistry education. Very little attention is given to the highest mental tests of thinking and application of skills These include the ability to apply the knowledge in real world to analyse the information, synthesize new information based on what was learnt, and to evaluate the outcome of knowledge applied. Some concepts involving mathematical calculation such as thermodynamics, mole concepts, electrolysis among others are tagged to be difficult and are skipped by teachers (Omoniyi, 2021) This could be due to teachers’ lack of understanding of the content/subject matter, inappropriate use of teaching strategies and inadequate material resources. Two research questions were raised (i) What is the level of implementation of the National Chemistry Curriculum by chemistry teachers in secondary schools in Nigeria? (ii) How adequate are the available material resources for the teaching of chemistry curriculum in Secondary Schools in Nigeria? One hypothesis was generated for the study. - There is no significant difference between the teachers’ view on the problems militating against the implementation of chemistry curriculum and the adequacy of material resources for the teaching of chemistry in Secondary Schools in Nigeria
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