Influence of Improvisedteaching Instructional Materials on Chemistry Students’ Performance in Senior Secondary Schools in Vandeikya Local Government Area of Benue State, Nigeria

Eriba Emmanuel Otor,Josiah Ogbeba,Clementina Ngunan Ityo

doi:10.5296/ire.v3i1.7181

Abstract

This study assessed the use of improvised instructional materials on the performance of chemistry students. It also examined the differential performance among male and female chemistry students when this method is used in teaching chemistry. Two research questions and two hypotheses guided this study. A descriptive survey design was used for the study. Data were collected from 150 senior secondary school chemistry students using simple random sampling procedure from eight secondary schools in Vandeikya Local Government Area of Benue State, Nigeria. Improvised Chemistry Teaching Aids Questionnaire (ICTAQ) developed by the researchers and validated by experts was used for data collection. The research questions were answered using mean and standard deviation while the hypotheses were tested at 0.05 level of significance using Analysis of Variance (ANOVA). Students taught using improvised instructional materials outperformed their counterparts taught with conventional lecture method. There was also a better performance among the male chemistry students when compared to their female counterparts. Based on the findings of the study, it was recommended among others that teaching of chemistry using improvised instructional materials should be encouraged since it facilitates the learning of this subject.

Highlights

IntroductionIts teaching often requires creativity and improvisation
Chemistry is an exact and a core science subject in Nigerian secondary schools
A research instrument which was validated by experts, chemistry educators, measurement and evaluation was used for this study namely Improvised Chemistry Teaching Aids Questionnaire (ICTAQ)

Summary

Introduction

Its teaching often requires creativity and improvisation. To make chemistry concepts comprehensible to students, chemistry teachers must employ creative teaching methods and be prepared to respond to queries and explain concepts in an atypical manner (Nbina, 2012). The author further pointed out that the widespread poor performance and the negative attitude towards chemistry from secondary school students have largely been ascribed to lack of proper teaching methods. Teachers who adapt appropriate improvisation materials in teaching chemistry will likely be more successful in imparting chemistry knowledge to the novice chemists in their classes. Samba and Eriba (2011) see improvisation as the act of using alternative materials and resources to facilitate instructions whenever there is lack or shortage of specific first hand teaching aids. Recent models of teaching and learning view learning as a social activity in which children construct knowledge with the teacher and other children (Kerry, 2002)

Objectives

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion