Influence of Learning Styles on Academic Achievement of Chemistry Students

Abstract

It is disheartening to note that the poor academic achievement, in chemistry at public examinations in recent times has been explained as a major cause of decline in the general science course and standard of education in core science in Nigeria. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether learning styles relate with academic achievement of chemistry students in Akamkpa Local Government Area. A correlation survey was the research design adopted by the researcher. In the cause of conducting this study the study involved multi-stage sampling approach of a combination of stratified and simple random sampling techniques in selecting 200 SS1 students in the study area. The instrument used for data collection was questionnaire and Chemistry Achievement Test. The data collected was scored, coded and analyzed using Pearson Correlation and was tested at 0.05 level of significance. The results of the analysis revealed that the students approach towards kinesthetic learning style correlates positively with academic achievement in Chemistry. The result also showed that visual learning style and auditory learning style correlates positively with the academic achievement in Chemistry among SS1 students in Akamkpa Local Government. It was recommended among others that; for better academic achievement in Chemistry, teachers should identify the learning styles of their students and used teaching strategies that complement them.