An Investigation Into The Causes of Poor Performance of Students in Chemistry in Secondary School (A Case Study of Ika North Lga
An Investigation Into The Causes of Poor Performance of Students in Chemistry in Secondary School (A Case Study of Ika North Lga
An Investigation Into The Causes of Poor Performance of Students in Chemistry in Secondary School (A Case Study of Ika North Lga
ABSTRACT
Chemistry being the branch of science which studies the nature and properties of substances
which make up the environment, with the changes they undergo, is a very important course of
study which does not only stand as a scientific study but also a very essential for the
development of any nation which must be productive and be able to stand independently in the
production of its inhabitants’ chemical consumables. However, as important as this course is, the
students who are expected to be the carriers of the necessary skills needed for a productive
application have been performing so poor persistently over some years ago. To curb this, this
research work focused on investigating the factors responsible for this persistent poor
performance at the Senior Secondary School level, using Ika North LGA, Nigeria, as study areas.
Eight (8) Secondary Schools were randomly selected, where twenty-five students were randomly
selected from six of the schools, sixteen and thirty from the other two schools respectively,
making a total of one hundred and ninety six (196) students from SSS 1 to 3. One teacher out of
the total Chemistry teachers present in each school was also selected, making a total of 8
teachers in all. Many related theses were reviewed to have a foresight of what the likely factors
responsible for this effect could be, and the factors found out were out-listed under two broad
headings called: The School-based Factors (7) and The Extrinsic Factors (5), making a total of
twelve (12) factors in all. The method of data collection employed in this thesis is the teachers’
and students’ questionnaires. The former has a total of thirtythree (33), while the latter has a total
Chi-square and Correlation Coefficient were used in the analysis of the data collected. From the
investigations conducted, sixteen (16) hypotheses were formulated to check the validity of the
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identified factors, and the following factors were found to be affecting the performance of
students about chemistry, wrong attitudes of students toward chemistry, poor learning
environment & facilities, poor/inadequate assessment of students and improper achievement test,
inadequate evaluation, poor method of teaching on the part of teachers, poor English language
comprehension ability and mathematical competence, the type of primary school attended,
performance in JSSCE Basic/Integrated Science, and old age. Meanwhile, the following factors
were speculated in the literatures reviewed, but were found to have no effect on students’
performance: gender difference, curriculum content, syllabus and workload of teachers, and
found to have a very weak effect on the performance of students in chemistry. After all, reliable
recommendations were made for the concerned bodies and individuals, including ministry of
stakeholders. Recommendations were also made for further studies, with all of these focused on
making positive changes to the performance of students in Chemistry right from the foundational
education level, and to effect a transformation of the education sector of the country, Nigeria, at
large.
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CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
Chemistry has been a very important science subject whose role in the development of a nation
like Nigeria cannot be overemphasized. However, as important and significant as this subject is
among its other likes of science subjects including Physics, Mathematics and Biology in the
senior secondary school level of the nation, students have persistently, like in the aforementioned
courses or subjects above, continued to perform poorly, considering the evaluations carried out
by both internal and external examination bodies like WAEC and NECO.
“There has been wild cry each year when WAEC or NECO releases their annual
Mohammed, & Ogunlade; (2012) in Ojukwu, M.O. (2016)]. “Candidates’ performance at the
Senior Secondary School Certificate Examination (SSCE) conducted by WAEC and NECO has
consistently remained poor, with chemistry having one of the worst and poorest results over the
Meanwhile, the poor performance of students in any course of study, be it Sciences, Social
Sciences, or even Commercial studies would lead to a poor development of the country since
they make up the content (major) of the education sector of the country, which indeed is the
Aside the fact that the nation as a whole is being negatively affected when there is poor
performance of students with their output in the society, it haphazardly embitters individual
student and their guardians/parents badly because education is believed and known to be the
major medium through which individuals adapt to a new environment and attain high levels in
the hierarchy of any endeavor. Thus, poor academic performance in the general education,
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regardless of whichever course of study such as chemistry or any other, usually brings about
sadness and frustrations to the individual concerned and to his/her parents, as well as the entire
family. As a matter of fact, it gives parents and students a feeling of satisfaction and enthusiasm
Parents and students aspiring and endeavoring to become so fulfilled in life in various careers
such as Medicine & Surgery; Dentistry; Petrochemical Engineering; Agricultural Practices; Food
Engineering; Nursing; Geology, and many more to mention but a few, find it so difficult to have
their aspirations and endeavors realized simply because of their poor and unsatisfying
performance in Chemistry which is a compulsory subject needed for any of these courses
especially in the Health Sciences. At the senior secondary school level, no student without at
least a credit pass in Chemistry would be allowed to progress for his/her University education,
and this alone can kill the dream of many potential students to become practitioners of any of the
above mentioned noble courses. This in turn affects the Educational Sector of the country,
resulting in poor socio – economic growth as it limits or restricts such victimized students to a
lower hierarchy in the economic strata if care is not taken with enough supply of courage and a
Considering all these, this study was focused on getting reliable facts and figures of the factors
affecting the students which therefore result in their poor performance in this so important
Meanwhile, Saage (2009) in Nbina, J.B. (2012) identified specific variables causing this poor
performance, such as poor primary school background in Science, lack of incentives for test, lack
of interest on the part of students, students’ laziness, incompetent teachers in the primary school,
large class sizes, psychological fear of the subject, etc. Also, Korau (2006) in Nbina, J.B (2012)
reported that such factors include students’ factors, teachers’ factors, societal factors,
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factors, curriculum related variables, and evaluation related variables, textbook availability, and
home factors.
With all these previous theses, the focus of the study shall be to see into the genuineness of each
of these factors, its effects, and how a profound, lasting and very reliable and proficient solution
This project work is intended to examine the causes of poor performance of senior secondary
school students in chemistry based on the fact that there has been a consistent and re-occurring,
and so baffling cases of such which is so much affecting the students’ academics/education
during and after secondary school level, to the extent that chemistry as a subject has become a
fearful masquerade in the minds of many students who offer it. As if that wasn’t enough, it has
become a nightmare to so many other students in both secondary schools and tertiary institutions
in the country and there have been cases of the students stating emphatically that they wouldn’t
chemistry
2. Establish the real attitudes of students and teachers toward Chemistry as they may affect
3. Find out the school-based factors which might be responsible for students’ poor
performance in Chemistry.
4. Search out some extrinsic factors such as parental background in terms of profession,
who the students live with, qualifications of teachers and their experience: all of which may
chemistry.
The purpose of this study is to determine and juxtapose the causes of poor performance of senior
secondary school students in chemistry, using some selected secondary schools in Ika North
LGA, Nigeria, as a case study (both private and public schools will be used). The researcher
through findings also seeks to find solutions to the identified problems, test many hypotheses in
order to establish a highly meaningful and perfectly working set of recommendations which can
The following questions have been put forward for the purpose of this project work:
3. What are the strategies or methods to improve senior secondary school students’
performance in chemistry?
In the course of making investigations about the factors responsible for the persistent poor
performance of students at the senior secondary school level in chemistry, the following null
2. H0: “The age of students in a particular class does not affect their performance in
Chemistry.”
3. H0: “The type of primary school (private or public) attended by the students does not
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4. H0: “The performance of students in their JSSCE Basic or Integrated Science does not
5. H0: “Students’ perception about chemistry does not affect their performance in
Chemistry.”
6. H0: “There is no direct relationship between students’ attitudes toward chemistry and
7. H0: The attitudes of chemistry teachers toward their students do not have anything to with
8. H0: “Learning Environment of students and their school facilities for learning do not
11. H0: “The level of students’ rudimentary understanding of chemistry is not really a
12. H0: “The relationship existing between parental background and students’ performance in
13. H0: “There is no positive association or direct proportionality between the availability of
14. H0: “There is no significant effect on the performance of senior secondary school students
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16. H0: “There is no significant negating effect of curriculum content, syllabus, and teachers’
curriculum planners, the government, and the society at large, with the aim of helping improve;
first, the students’ ability to perform brilliantly rather than otherwise; second, the teachers’
teaching efficiency and productivity; third, the parents’/guardians’ ideologies and understanding
about their wards’ betterment and how they can help bring out the best in them; fourth, the
administrative structural styles and format; fifth, curriculum planners’ curriculum content, set up,
analysis, complexity ratio, simplicity measure; sixth, the government’s input, yielding
maximization, and their expected discretion; seventh and finally, the society’s impacts, inputs
and profits.
The researcher’s limit of study is within the coverage of Ika North LGA, due to time & financial
constraints alongside other factors such as the need for an in-depth study of the identified
problems in those particular areas.
The following Secondary/High schools were selected for the purpose of this study within
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6. Ijesha Muslim High School, Ika North LGA
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CHAPTER TWO
LITERATURE REVIEW
2.0 Introduction
This chapter of the project work cites and reviews the factors earlier identified by various
researchers as having influence on or being the causes of Senior Secondary School students’
poor performance in various subjects, even apart from chemistry, but especially within the
coverage of sciences. It also cites the likely causes of students’ poor performance in chemistry in
other countries such as Kenya, South Africa and Tanzania. References are also made to various
related theses conducted in other parts of Nigeria, both for Bachelor’s and Master’s Degree
iii. Culture/Society
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iv. Peer Group/Foundational Education
The two major factors given above as: The School-based Factors and The Extrinsic Factors have
the highlighted factors or variables under them as the focus of this study and literature review.
Now, each of the factors shall be expatiated one after the other as follows:
School from this context refers to the place where the process of teaching and learning takes
place.
However, there have been various contributions toward what the components of a school are;
These three components work hand-in-hand with utmost dependence such that one cannot exist
successfully without the other. If the teacher is available without a content (either subject or
skill) to teach when the students are available, there can be nothing called teaching or even
learning. And if students are in existence without a teacher or content to learn from, then there
In view of these, Zachariah K.M. (2012) in his research work perceived that there are absolutely
cases whereby the insufficient or none availability of any of these 3 major components and other
necessities such as the school plants and facilities (such as class rooms, teaching/learning
The following are therefore identified as the causes of students’ poor performance under the
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2.1.1 Students’ Perception & Attitude
Ojukwu M.O. (2016) in his findings and data analysis collected the following from the students
Chemistry
From the analyses shown above, according to the collection of Ojukwu M.O. (2016), it could be
inferred that the perception of students about chemistry as a difficult subject is so high and far
beyond average, with a relatively equal affirmation of low retention of the subject when taught or
studied. This confirmation however did not state or show that students have a negative attitude
towards the subject, as it is shown in the table that 66.7% of the questioned students disagreed
Zachariah K.M (2012) in his related study based on students’ poor performance in
Mathematics stated: “Students’ attitude towards Mathematics was measured using a ‘Likert
Scale’ and the results obtained indicated that they have a positive attitude towards Mathematics”.
This is in contradiction to the assumed ideology or thought that students oftentimes fear
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Mathematics and so want to avoid it at all costs. But if students have a positive attitude towards
Mathematics (being a core subject); what then should be their fear for Chemistry. Yet, the case is
not like that, as it is revealed that 88.8% confessed that Chemistry is a difficult subject.
Meanwhile, they still have a positive attitude toward the study of this acclaimed difficult-to-
understand subject by studying to understand. But the counter move to this might be due to their
determined by their attitudes rather than their inability to study. This shows that a student with
the mindset of knowing, embedded with the will and desire to understand any subject matter can
certainly do so regardless of its difficulty. But more noteworthy is the mindblowing findings
revealed in the problem of inadequate coverage of syllabus and failure to conduct practicals
which got 100% agreement of the whole 240 students which were questioned. This can also bear
forth the fact that the students’ positive attitude toward chemistry can be killed, recollecting the
fact that the syllabus is the analytical breakdown of the content to be learned in the
teaching/learning process; this therefore makes a core component of the school absent and
However, it is to be noted as well that students’ poor attitude toward the subject, probably in
form of fear, hatred of either the teacher or the subject, non-challant attitude, laziness and others
certainly do produce poor performance. Haimowitz (1989) in Ojukwu (2016) indicated the cause
of most failures in schools might not be due to insufficient or inadequate instruction but by active
resistance by the learners. This serves as a supportive ideology or knowledge to the fact that
students’ attitude in the form of resistance of the subject matter affects their performance
negatively.
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Zechariah K.M (2012) in his findings showed that data obtained after analyzing teachers’
responses to items soliciting their attitude towards Mathematics indicated that they have a
positive attitude towards the subject with their overall mean perception as 4.18 out of the
maximum possible score of 5.00. This implies that they have a positive attitude towards
Meanwhile, Ogembo (2012) stated that teachers’ attitudes and motivation play a pivotal role in
the teaching and learning process; laying emphasis on the fact that educationists and employers
know that it is essential to motivate learners and employees so that they can work diligently to
produce good results in whatever they do (Kithinji, 2007). He further stated in his findings which
was targeted towards the factors influencing the poor performance of students in chemistry, that
according to Kwale SMASSE District INSET _ 2004, “although Science and especially
Mathematics teachers may have positive attitude, yet they are beset with problems that frustrate
He further highlighted the following as parts of the frustrating problems which negatively affect
i. It is possible that a number of teachers are not in the profession by choice. Although
many of them adjust and accept teaching as a profession, there are those who take too long while
which does that via teachers’ abnormal workload and insufficient time for adequate preparation,
iii. Students’ attitude, if negative, towards a particular subject will certainly without doubt
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vi. Uncooperative administration, especially in the provision of required facilities
With all the outlined results gotten from previous studies, it could be inferred that as there are
positive attitudes of teachers, there still exist so many factors which may hinder their (the
teachers’) maximal performance. When these hindering factors as outlined by Ogembo (2012)
above are active, the students’ performance would still be affected wrongly. A case study of such
relationship between teachers’ attitude and problem-causing factors is the poor remuneration of
secondary school teachers in Nigeria, which actually discourages them from going to class to
teach effectively. As their attitudes are being turned upside down due to non-payment of salaries
and allowances, the students are affected and this results to poor students’ performance.
In cases where teachers are expected and supposed to have a positive attitude, the students’ also
appear to portray a discouraging mindset either by their being unready to learn or otherwise;
teachers get discouraged and some have their passion to effectively and actively teach quenched.
The case of professionalization is another factor which wrongly (through teachers’ attitudes)
bastardize the output of students. Just like Ogembo (2012) mentioned, many teachers today in
Nigeria do not even have any interest whatsoever in being a professional teacher. Most of them
just venture into teaching as a job to earn for their living, probably because of job scarcity in the
country or for any other reason. There are cases of seeing a Petrochemical Engineering graduate
teaching chemistry in secondary schools, not because such graduate was trained or had passion
or even any intention to become a teacher, but primarily because he didn’t have any other means
of getting income. This goes far back to lack of enough work space or media through which such
graduate can work in the appropriate places in line with his course of study, such as the
Another part of this problem is its stem: Un-professionalization of teaching. The fact that
teaching has not been professionalized as it should be like other professions such as
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Accountancy, Medical Practices, Law and Soliciting Professions, etc. has been a major problem
which allows the untrained men to easily venture into the world of teaching – (Komolafe,
affecting the attitudes of teachers (and this consequently produces poor results or output).
Imagine a single teacher teaching three classes (SSS 1 to 3). How would the teacher be able to
cope as effectively as he/she should with his students? This can also go a long way to affect
his/her attitude towards anchoring the students’ works such as assignments, experiments and
field exercises. To mark with utmost attention the scripts or workbooks of over 40 students per
class, and 3 classes make 120, plus workbooks per day or probably at the most minimum, 1 week
cannot be as easy as it would be with that of just 1 class per day or per week. This alone prevents
the teacher from giving maximum attention to students’ lapses and academic shortcomings.
Overloaded curriculum and unavailability of some required facilities are found to be a threat
Akanmu, Aluko, Akinyeye & Makinde (2015) define method of teaching as the strategies or
process. They further state that “It is how the teacher passes across or communicates lessons.”
The following are the attributes of a good method of teaching, as given by Okeke (1997) and
1. Provide useful activities that would help learners to discover facts and contribute
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2. Have consideration for all the varying groups of learners in the class; the clever, average
3. Be able to make use of educational maxims as “the lesson must start from known to
unknown” etc. make use of previous knowledge or experience to develop new facts and ideas.
4. Make learning meaningful to the learners. It should be relevant to his needs and situations
5. Prepare moderately for a lesson. It should not attempt too much or too little in any given
lesson
Just in the same vein, Ogembo (2012) states that the principles of effective teaching rest on
teaching. No single teaching method such as direct instruction or social construction of meaning
ii. For any subject, chemistry inclusive, instructional needs change as the students’ expertise
develops.
Therefore, what constitutes an optimal mixture of instructional methods and learning activities
will evolve as the students’ school year, instructional units and even individual lessons progress
(Harris & Taylor, 1983; Corno & Snow, 1986; Gastel, 1991). iii. The students need to learn
effectively and progress through the curriculum. Effective instruction needs to focus on the zone
of proximal development which is the range of knowledge, concepts and skills that the students
are not yet ready to acquire on their own but can acquire with the help of their teachers. Teachers
have different styles and strategies for helping students learn; particularly chemistry concepts
Garson (1988) in Ogembo (2012) says if students are to learn science, we must give them respect
for observation rather than the pronouncements of textbooks; contrary to the findings of Kwale
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SMASSE (2004) which revealed that most science teachers who enter into activity of teaching
So far, from the given statements above, the choice of a good teaching method is known. But if
there is anything contrary to the characteristics and assumptions given, then such is erroneous
Even in cases where all these attributes and conditions are being followed or offered, Twoli
(2006) found out that some schools’ head teachers use all these primarily to make their students
pass some national or international exams instead of using them to make sure the knowledge
becomes part of the students. This was found to be in existential use because such school
administrations’ focus is on making their way to the top of the list of schools with highest
passing out students rate regardless of if the students they so produce this way are capable of
making impacts in their society after all. “This practice reduces students to passive recipients
who are supposed to imbibe knowledge from teachers, memorize it and reproduce it all in
Furthermore, Zechariah (2012) in his analysis found out that 5.6% of teachers use lecture
method, 3.4% use project, 64.2% use discussions, 6.5% use discovery method, while 27% use
the Q & A method. According to (Costello, 1991), lecture method is ineffective in that it turns
the learners into passive participants in the learning process. However, despite the disadvantage,
lecture method allows the coverage of large content within short period (SMASSE, 2007).
Discussions, project and discovery methods create an enabling environment for the learners and
With all the methods mentioned and many more that are, their use in the appropriate place and
for the appropriate subject or topic maximizes the performance of students. However, the
consistent use of a particular method which is didactic, like the lecture method, may produce
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2.1.4 Teaching-Learning Materials/Curriculum
SMASSE (2014) in Ogembo (2012) identified overloaded curriculum as part of the frustrating
A curriculum is a comprehensive plan prepared to guide and control the general educational
programs at certain level or sector of education. It is a very broad and unified plan prepared
commonly for a set of subject taught in the same level or sector of education. (Akanmu, Aluko,
Meanwhile, teaching-learning materials refer to those objects or devices used by the teacher to
transfer or pass knowledge across to students/learners. Such include objects which are at times
used as teaching aids, educational materials, educational media, instructional media, educational
resources, learning resources, resources materials, etc. just as the case may be. (Akanmu et al)
Zachariah K.M (2012) showed in his research work that textbooks, being a teaching material,
are leading with 94.1%, followed by mathematics geometry-charts and models which take 10.5%
Meanwhile, Psacharopolous and Woodhall (1985) say textbooks are a major input for
performance in examinations. This view is shared by Chepchieng (1995) who observes that
achievement among children from lower income families, especially those in rural boarding
schools and that physical facilities contribute positively to students’ academic performance
(Munda, Tanni & Kaberia, 2000). Also 43.50% of all students indicated that their schools lacked
physical facilities and the ones existing were poorly used, stating that the availability of these
facilities highly contribute positively to students’ performance. However, the absence of any or
some of these materials and facilities amount to poor performance, not of the students alone now,
but also of teachers. Aside all that, when the teaching materials are available, most teachers find
it difficult at times to cover the whole scheme of work selected from the curriculum mostly
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because of time constraints which arise from factors such as to uncalculated holidays, slow rate
of students’ understanding of the subject matter taught from a well-planned syllabus, or even the
laziness of the teachers which may have resulted in the inability to cover the syllabus, and where
possible, there may be no suitable materials to effectively teach according to the education
curriculum been stated or laid down to follow. All these consequently result to poor performance
of students.
Inappropriate use of specific materials or even the unavailability of such may forfeit the goal of
the curriculum, and this surface to affect the students not alone, but even the society at the long
run.
Zachariah (2012) found out that 27.8% of teachers teach below 15 lessons per week, 66.7%
teach between 16 to 30 lessons, while 27.8% teach more than 30 lessons in a week. Meanwhile,
the Ministry of Education (2008) says a teacher in a secondary school is supposed to teach at
most 30 lessons in a week – a figure which I personally find too big here in Nigeria. This
indicates that 27.8% of teachers (in his findings) were overloaded. This percentage is high and
Problematically merged with this is the factor of too much class size compared to the normal
expected size of 50 students maximally per class. There have been many reported cases of
teachers resigning from a particular school of work with such workload for a better place. This
occurrence is due to the consideration of the fact that such population per class becomes
uncontrollable many a times for the teachers or that the management of such number of students’
works and activities became cumbersome and outrageously too much for them. The resignation
of teachers results to the employment of new teachers which may bring an entirely new method,
approach or relationship different from those of the former teachers, therefore resulting in a kind
of confusion and puzzle for the students under such tutelage. The end product of such processes
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is usually the poor performance of students in such course or subject of study, with chemistry
inclusive.
Learning environment in the formal school setting includes the classroom, the staff personnel of
the school, the school plants and even the peer groups of the learners. Ogembo J.O. (2012)
opined that the type of classroom interaction existing between the students and their individual
teachers determines not only the effectiveness of the learning situation, but also the attitudes,
interest and in part, even the personality of the child. Gammage (1979) however argues that in
personality, as it is, affects learning. The child’s reaction to success, failure, praise and blame –
relative to the interaction with the teacher, become crucial since they relate not only to the
student’s social and emotional behavior in the classroom but also to his motivation and morale.
The teacher must therefore be careful about what happens in the first few encounters with the
With all these earlier marked out contributions, it can be inferred clearly that the learning
environment or atmosphere found inside the classroom is of extreme importance in molding the
character of the students and determining the efficiency with which learning takes place. The
motivation of the learner may be achieved if the classroom interaction both between a student
and his/her mates and that between himself with the teacher in charge of chemistry is enhanced
and made effective. This will consequently promote an eager mindset in the students and result
in their brilliant performance, having gotten answers to their curiosity created by the virtue of
classroom interaction to fail in the concerned course or subject, which does not exclude
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However, mention has been made of the learning facilities as a cogent factor related to the
learning environment – (School plants) responsible for either ills or norms in the teaching –
learning process of chemistry as a science subject. According to Maundu, Muttuwii and Sambili
in Ogembo (2012), a classroom teacher requires various kinds of teaching resources such as
textbooks, apparatus, chemicals, charts, models, motion pictures as well as laboratories and
others to enhance the effectiveness of his or her instruction. Meanwhile, a resource is defined as
any source of information, expertise, supply or support which helps in the enhancement of the
teaching – learning process by modifying the teaching and learning situation. Chemistry being a
science subject cannot do or be complete without practical and phenomena which cannot be
Ogembo (2012), every bit of chemical knowledge is a direct result of one or more careful and
unbiased experimental observations. Most of these observations are made by using at least one or
more of the five senses. Students’ performance in practical work is determined by proper use of
laboratory tools (glass ware, and equipment) and the correct execution of procedural techniques
According to Bhagwan (2005), a growing body of research in the cognitive science suggests that
students learn and better retain what they learn through ‘authentic’ learning tasks. In a
contradicting development to all these, Okafor (1996) reported that 5% of the post – primary
schools in Lagos, Nigeria, had no laboratory. Even the ones with laboratories were not ideally
equipped with human and material resources. These factors which are actually not peculiar to
ICT is another facility in the world of today that enhances the teaching/learning process.
Bhagwan (2005) outlines the following as the most important contributions of ICT: It
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2. Makes instruction more students-centered; encourages co-operative learning and
stimulates increased teacher-students interaction
4. Provides challenging visual/spatial tasks which develop logical and scientific thinking
5. Enables students to develop high-order results and logical thinking by making abstract
ideas concrete.
He further stated that the implementation of ICT as a facility of study (teaching/learning) will
certainly help students’ performance. But since all these facilities are not present in many
assessment/examination profoundly affect the content of the curriculum, how it is taught and
tackling a task, questioning them about their work, looking at the records of their previous works
or listening in on their discussions. More formal processes include testing and examinations.
Generally, assessment provides insights into very specific aspects of the thoughts and
performance of students (Brenner, 2004). The use of assessment to ask and answer questions
such as, the thought of students about a particular topic or why a students’ performance in certain
skilled tasks becomes deteriorating, actually improves the information available to the teacher
and makes it possible to identify and address learning difficulties (Beck & Earl, 2002; Beck,
2002).
The other issue considered necessary is how a student’s previous encounter with the assessment
outcome of the subject affects his overall performance. Embeywa (1985) opines that, to feel
positively towards a subject area, one has motivational orientation towards a subject area with
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high academic yield (high performance). Perhaps, consistent poor performance in chemistry
demotivates students, thus enabling the vicious circle of poor performance in chemistry.
The study under this attempts to consider the correlation between students’ previous
Black (2002) in Ogembo (2012) identified factors that he considered to be seemingly crucial for
successful learning and other factors considered to act as hindrances. Those that enhance
learning include:
i. Regular classroom testing and the use of the results to adjust teaching and learning rather
ii. Enhanced feedback between teachers and students, which may be oral or in the form of
iii. The active involvement of all the students iv. Careful attention to the motivation and self
– esteem of students, encouraging them to believe that they can learn what is being taught.
v. Time allowed for self – assessment by students, discussion in groups and dialogue between
i. Tests, which encourage rote and superficial learning, even when teachers claim they wish
to develop understanding
ii. Failure by teachers to discuss and review testing methods between themselves iii.
iii. Over – emphasis on giving of marks and grades at the expense of useful advice to
students iv. Approaches that compare students in such way that persuades them that the purpose
is comparison rather than personal improvement which demotivates some other students
v. Testing, feedback and record – keeping which serves a managerial rather than learning
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i. Careful framing of the teacher’s questions encourage active students’ participation.
ii. Increasing ‘wait time’; that is, giving students time to think and contribute progressively
after questions.
iii. Comments on written tasks identify what has been done well and that which needs
improvements.
iv. Making criteria for evaluating any learning achievement transparent to students.
vi. Encourage students to keep in mind the aims of their work and assess their own progress
vii. Students should be sensitized about the formative use of the summative tests.
Note: The asterisked Roman figure (iv) above is a very crucial point which is supposed to be
made known to students, but it is a pity to know that most students do not even know about any
of such criteria such as what the marking scheme says or what the marking analysis of teachers
In view of the above, it is crystal clear that assessment has a profound effect on the teaching
program through which the range of realization of an objective is known. If the measure of
objective realization is therefore not known through the feedback medium that assessment gives,
This segment of the literature review focuses on considering how some factors outside the
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2.2.1 Mass Media/Social Network
Adeyemi (2014) in Adewumi (2016) defines mass media as any means or source of public
information that educate and enlightens members of the society. The says further that it’s a very
powerful agent of education and socialization which has the capacity to either make or mar any
Akanmu (2012) in Adewumi (2016) refers to mass media as the channel through which
prints via some devices such as television, radio, telephone, satellite networks or books, journals,
However, with all the intended modernization of channels via which information and messages
could be passed across to the masses, many students are found of exploiting the negativities in
mass media against themselves either directly or indirectly as it is not all the information given
through the mass media that are necessary or needful for secondary school students. Some
electronic and printed media have segments meant for games, adults only movies and all such
which when students get too used to turn out to becoming affective against them. Such segments
or offer may include porn TV show, unnecessary puzzle games and stories, an action which even
result in moral decadence in the society, apart from the academic damages it does to their lives.
based on certain interests and characteristics, using highly accessible and scalable publishing
techniques. Social media use web – based technologies to transform and broadcast media
monologues into social dialogues, and some of such are Facebook, Twitter, Eskimi, 2go, and
Each of these social networks is actually intended for communication effectiveness and
efficiency through electronic devices to meet up with the standard of technological advancement
which started well in the communications arena since the 20 th century. The effect of all these on
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academic performance of student is that many of them become uncontrollably addicted to these
social media negatively such that the time they should spend studying their academic materials,
and doing school works are sold out unto these social networks, thereby producing a poor yield
Nyandwi M.D. (2014) in his research work on a very similar topic in Tanzania found out that
the financial status or background of the family in terms of income actually has a very
conspicuous influence on the performance of students in chemistry. He stated that the literature
on achievement consistently has shown that parent’s with moderate to high income and
educational background held beliefs and expectations that were closer than those of low –
income families to the actual academic performance of their children; low income families
instead had high expectations and performance beliefs that did not correlate well with their
Otieno & Yara (2010) asserted in Nyandwi (2014) that, earners from low economic status
families tend to value domestic activities more than schooling. Such children are subjected to
child labour and have little time for studies. They indicated that in most developing countries,
there are many families whose members despite their full day’s hard labour do not find it
possible to make their ends meet. Children of tender age in such families have to work for their
living. These coupled with little government financing of education sector makes many families
still unable to meet the requirements of their children’s education thus contributing greatly to
their poor academic performance. In Nigeria, especially Osun State, the government tried to
make education as simple and easily accessible as possible, even by providing school uniforms
for the students at a point in time, and providing them with some of the textbooks needed for
core subjects like English Language & Mathematics, yet some parents still find it difficult to
provide other important courses/subject textbooks, one of which is chemistry. When the
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government even stopped providing uniforms for students on a free basis, many of the students
whose parents could not afford the school uniform at the right and due time felt inferior
compared to their fellow students, and as such, some decided not to go to their school with
tattered uniforms amidst their colleagues. These reactions and causes contribute to the failure of
Culture in its simplest definition is considered the way of life of an individual society. Mansarya
(2001) in Adewumi (2016) defines culture as “the aggregate of the customs, arts, beliefs, and
Haralamboo and Holborn (2000) in Adewumi (2016) say, “Culture is the collection of ideas and
habits which they not only learn and share, but which is transmitted from one generation to
another.”
From the definitions given above, it could be inferred that culture is very much dependent on the
society, and the society dictates the up-standing of its culture. However, the society (group of
people who live together, share, decide, reason and work things, ideology or goals together) is
Some societies like in the case of the East part of Nigeria so much believe in their potential to
make business innovations and are committed to the art of entrepreneurship, so they tend to have
their children and wards trained and built with the inclined mindset that learning business skills
is the best way of making their living. On this basis, many students tend to focus more on
business development when they can actually focus more on many lucrative educational courses
such as office management and many science courses. Many that tend to focus more on
education in the Northern region of Nigeria are considered exceptional and as such do not feel
any push, motivation or challenge to do better in their academic pursuit. This actually may cause
a kind of degeneration in the performance of the students in the school. Since Haralambos and
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Holborn (2002) state that “culture is not just the way of life a society but that which is transferred
even to another generation”, then, there would be a transfer of the same mentality from one
generation to another. Meanwhile, this results into the deterioration of the academic potential and
Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary (8th Edition) defines peer group as a group of people of
the same age range or social status. This refers to the fellowship of two and mostly more than
two people who are of the same age, similar ideology, same environment and social status.
According to Cookey (1990), peer group formation arises through the inborn urge in human
being to realize themselves in the society and the basic and potent human needs to relate with
other people in various social organizations. Therefore, with the above statement it would be
agreed upon that the formation of peer group is not limited to a particular age that is it comes
naturally in individuals regardless of their age, but it mostly and majorly towards other
individuals of same age group, social views, way of life and outlook.
Spillman, (1998) says, “The peers that infants have are of relatively less importance in their
immediate development; parents, family and the immediate environment have more or greater
influence on them.”
Adeola et al (1993) adds that, “At the adolescent stage, that is at secondary school age, an
individual spends more time in a formal school environment away from home, he will therefore
spend more time with other school children not only in the classroom, but also in other types of
activities football, discussions, handcraft works, and other social involvements; by these,
important attitudes and values are formed in other words, the child in school not only learns from
his/her teachers but also from his peer group. From the quotations and citations made earlier on
above, it could be inferred that the exposure of individual student right from childhood to
adolescence would contribute not only to his/her academic orientation and knowledge make-up
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alone, but to all other areas of his/her life including his/her character set-up. It is often being said
that “a bad association corrupts good manners.” Another saying is that, “If you show me your
Hullen (1997) states that through peer group influence, adolescents are always anxious to do
what their peer group members do. Reading, joining societies like Boys Scout, Girls Guide, and
Choir groups etc., all these could help in boosting their academic performance. Also, the peer
interest may be sniping out of school to watch films, indulging in sexual acts, etc. - an act which
It is to be noted that the performance of all the peer group members will be the relative ratio of
the best members among them all. For example, if the best student in a particular group of peers
always come up with an aggregate of 68% in his or her academic results, there is a very high
tendency that the academic performance of the other members of that same group will never be
higher than that 68%. So, if the performing ability of the group to which an individual student
belongs is high, there would be a challenging effect on him/her to meet up with the standard of
Just as these effects are in the peer group, many effects lie in the coverage of the school an
individual attends as his/her foundational school. The phrase ‘foundational school’ here refers to
the elementary, basic or primary school that an individual student attends before reaching the
secondary school levels. Previous researchers have shown that the problems many students have
as touching their ability to read, speak and study English Language correctly is based on their
This inability extends to the level of their inabilities to understand other subjects such as
chemistry, physics, Geography and even Mathematics. This is considered factual because, for an
individual to perform well in anything whatsoever, there is a need for such to have a clear
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Bundled with the above identified problem is the poor scientific background of the Junior
Secondary Schools that many students of chemistry attended. Many of the schools (as stated in
section 2.1.6 – “The Learning Environment & Facilities”) lack proper science facilities such as a
standard laboratory for making the chemistry – related subjects such as Basic Science &
Introductory Technology, and Integrated Science, pragmatic enough for the students to develop
Conclusively, just like the words of the Psalmist in the Bible (Psalm 11:3) that, “If the
foundation be destroyed, what shall the righteous do?” The foundation of many has been
wounded academically, and this has made knowledge and expertise development of students in
chemistry so cumbersome and difficult. Hence, there is a need for every concerned personnel,
parents and teachers to help offer the best elementary education to their students and wards in
Wole Ibikunle & Femi Oke (2015) stated in their work -“Psychology of Child Development”,
that a child’s immediate environment, the first known place at the postnatal development stage is
the greatest determinant of a child’s orientation. This is found on the basis of the philosophy that
says “a child’s brain is like a black slate” at that stage of life. So whatever it is that is paddled
therein will certainly stay glued therein. This goes along with the understanding and orientation
of the parents in breeding their young ones. Educated parents can provide such an environment
that suits best for the academic success of their children, based on the kind of understanding,
Marzano, (2003) in Nyandwi (2014) opined that the school authorities can provide counseling
and guidance to parents for creating positive home environment for improvement in students’
quality of work.
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Many scholars pointed out that the academic performance of students heavily depend upon
parental involvement in their academic activities to attain the higher level of quality in activities
in order to attain a reasonably high level of academic quality and success (Barnard, 2004;
Shumox and Lomax, 2007). “Students with high level of socioeconomic status have a better
achievement in their academics due to their parents’ or family members’ involvements in their
Beyond all the aforementioned effects is the fact discovered that many parents with low
education standard blended with poor financial status and societal orientation do not even stop at
the level of nonchalant attitude towards their children’s education alone, but also go on to the
level of discouraging and badly hurting them even when the children themselves seek to achieve
However, some or few of the lowly educated parents who have the proper orientation of how
important education is in the world of these days seek eagerly to help their children and wards
attain their maximum academic performance. Some of these parents who have enough financial
standard go on to the extent of hiring or sponsoring teacher/their children respectively for extra
classes such as home or after – school/weekend tutorials when they seem they themselves could
not fit in for that role. But this fraction of parents is too small and scarce compared to others.
Krashen (2005) in Nyandwi (2014) concluded that “students whose parents are educated score
higher on standardized tests than those whose parents were not educated. Educated parents can
better communicate with their children regarding the school work, activities and the information
being taught at school.” They can better assist their children in their homework and participate at
school,” says – Trusty, (1999) in Nyandwi (2014). With all being said and reviewed, it could be
inferred that better educated parents help their children by facilitating everything related to their
academics, such as the provision of study materials/textbooks, workbooks, exam series and many
more, just to aid the performance of their children. This is much related to section 2.2.2 of this
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same thesis, but it combines the reaction of some uneducated parents and the educated ones and
how their separate entities affect students’ performance, not just in chemistry as a subject alone,
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CHAPTER THREE
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
This chapter discusses the method used in the research work as presented under the following
sub heading:
Research Design
Research Instruments
This study employs descriptive cross-sectional survey design. The design shall be used since it
enables the researcher collect data across the sampled population using the same instruments at
the same time. The survey design also enables the researcher obtain information concerning the
determinant factors for students’ and teachers’ performance with the assessment of their opinions
on how each of these factors contribute to their performance in chemistry (Best and Khan, 1992
in Ogembo J.O, 2012). Descriptive technique gives a vivid description of the factors identified
and how they contribute to achievements in chemistry (Robson, 2002; Mugenda and Mugenda,
It is also designed to show the relationship between the factors and performance, and attempts to
advance an explanation for poor performance in chemistry based on the data to be collected.
The diagrammatic illustration below gives the picture of the whole research design and
processes of the study right from the stage of research instruments construction to the final stage
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of report writing and presentation. The process includes the process of preparation of the
research instruments, pretesting and validation of the instruments, the sampling process to
identify the respondents for the study from the target population, the process of data collection,
Respondents:
Revised Research Instruments:
- Chemistry Students
- Chemistry Teachers - Students’ Questionnaires
- Teachers’ Questionnaires
Data Collection
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The study area or location is Ilesha West and Ilesha East Local Government Areas of
Osun State, Nigeria. Students from eight (8) of the Local Government Areas’ Schools would be
selected randomly from S.S.S 1, 2 and 3 for the purpose of this research work,
viz:
The population of students for this study includes 25 chemistry students in each of the 8 stated
Note: The total number of targeted populace planned and expected for each of the out listed
schools is 25 as stated earlier. However, the ones that responded to the structured questionnaires
are as shown in the following table. The variations in the number of student respondents is due to
some unforeseen circumstances which are better explained in chapter four of this thesis. E.g.
Ilesha Government High School was divided into 3, but within the same school compound and
Principals and administrations due to the largeness of the student populace in the school:
School Students Principal Chemistry Teachers
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2 Ogedengbe School of 16 1 2
Science
School
196 10 17
Total Population
1. The syllabus coverage for the schools concerned in the local government areas chosen for
2. Both government and private schools involved met the required standards necessary
according to the nation’s Policy of Education about Science subjects and Chemistry in particular.
3. The respondents, both students and teachers were honest in answering all questions.
The following were considered before choosing the selected schools for the
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1. They have been offering Chemistry since the past 5 years and have been participating in
2. They have, at least, a standard general science laboratory, if not a separate one for
Chemistry.
3. They have at least one Chemistry teacher whose tenure with the school was not less than
A sample is any number of cases less than the total number of cases in the population from
which it is drawn (Ingule & Gatumu, 1996, in Ogembo J.O. 2012). Sampling saves time and
S.S.S 1, S.S. 2 and S.S 3 students from the stratified sample of Private and Government
Secondary Schools are considered for this study. The sample size therefore goes by 25 chemistry
students per school and one of the chemistry teachers of the schools mentioned, making the
The instrument used in this study to obtain information from the respondents is basically a
questionnaire:
Questionnaire: A list of structured questions was given to the respondents to answer. The
questions were structured to address the specific objectives of the study. Questionnaires were
found appropriate in enabling the researcher gather a large volume of data from many subjects
economically (Orodho, 2009 in Ogembo J.O 2012). There were two categories of these
NOTE: The questionnaires used in carrying out this research work has its variables including
students’ performance (as the dependent variable) and others as the independent variables
including students’ attitude, teachers’ characteristics, teaching strategies, availability and list of
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resources and facilities, students’ characteristics, learning conditions in the school, parents’
factors and background; each of which stands under either of the two core factors stated in
(2) Extrinsic factors responsible for poor performance of Senior Secondary School
Students in chemistry.
This was made of closed and open-ended questions targeted at getting the opinions of students
about the factors considered responsible for their poor performance from all facets and angles
clear to them. There were thirty three (33) items in the questionnaire having two (2) sections.
Section I is designed to get introductory information about the students with a total of 5 items,
while section II consists of 28 items which focus on getting the objective information of the
research work. Some of the statements of the questionnaire were rated on a 5-point likert type
scale ranging from “Strongly Disagree” with a score of 1 to “Strongly Agree” with a score of 5.
Reverse is the case for negative questions i.e. “Strongly Agree” carries a score of 1 while
“Strongly Disagree” has a score of 5. The students were required to tick in the box corresponding
Scale similar to the students’ questionnaire. The questionnaire was developed to obtain
information on the opinions and attitude of teachers toward chemistry students, their approach in
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According to Kothari (1985) in Ogembo J.O (2012), validity refers to the degree to which an
instrument measures what it is supposed to measure. Content validity can be determined by using
a panel of persons who shall judge how well the measuring instruments meets the standards. For
this thesis, content validity was measured by the research supervisors, right from the supervising
Department, Chemistry, to the Deans of the School of Science and Education, Osun State
College of Education, Ika North LGA, Osun State, Nigeria. The experts analyzed the
instrument’s suitability in line with the research questions. The experts’ comments helped to
improve the validity of the questionnaires. The pilot test conducted also helped to improve the
Having gotten the permission to go on with the research work in line with the identified
problems of poor performance of students in chemistry, and to seek probable solutions to them,
1. The researcher visits the participating schools in order to be introduced, to familiarize and
2. The researcher administered questionnaires to the students and chemistry teachers, with
administering these questionnaires, the researcher observed the manner of both students and staff
After collecting all necessary data, data analysis was carried out to show how each variable
contributed to students’ performance in chemistry. The data was analyzed both qualitatively and
quantitatively using percentages, means, and frequency distribution statistically. The data was
descriptive, therefore invariants such as percentages, means and frequencies were used. Chi-
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square and correlation coefficients measure of association were used to justify the relationships
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CHAPTER FOUR
4.1 Introduction
This chapter presents an analysis of the collected data from a sample of 196 students from 5
Government and 3 Private High Schools within the coverage of Ika North LGALocal
Government Areas in Osun State, with 8 Chemistry teachers in all, and some few other
Chemistry experts who are in the line of teaching outside the involved schools were interviewed
in order to compare the relativity of the collected information from the selected schools.
Data analysis and report findings were done using descriptive statistics in the form of tables,
frequencies and percentages. For analyses of the relationships between independent and
Quantitative data analysis was done based on descriptive and inferential statistics. Data analysis
began by arranging the data according to the designed research questions. Frequency tables,
mean/average values, and percentages were used to present the information. Chi-square table and
correlation coefficients (CC) were computed in order to determine the relationship between the
Coding and assigning labels to variable categories was done for qualitative data. Common
themes were then obtained from the data collected and clustered in a patterned order so as to
identify variables that depicted general concepts and differences. Inferences were then drawn
from the analyses under each theme so as to arrive at conclusions that are valid as derived from
the findings.
Boys(M) 5 11 11 17 17 9 7 8 85 43.4
From the table 4.3 above which gives the analysis of the respondents’ gender, it could be seen
that a total of 111 females which amount to 56.6% of the total sampled population responded to
the questionnaires, while a total of 85 male students which equals 43.4% of the total population
responded to the questionnaire; meaning that there were less boys than girls in the sampled
Frequency 48 72 76
From the table 4.4 above, it could be inferred that there are more SS 3 students involved in the
38.8% of the total population with their age range between 13 and 18 years old. SS 2 students
also have their age range as those of the SS 3 students. This shows that the average age of the SS
2 and 3 students who responded to the questionnaires of this research work is 15 while that of the
SS 1 students ranging from 12 to 15 has an average of 13 years old. From this analysis, it could
be drawn out as a statement of fact that the ideal age for a student in this century to have been in
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his/her last level of secondary/high school education is 15 or thereabout. This finding also shows
that the students in SS 2 are of relatively equal age with those in SS 3, and this could mean that
students in Ika North LGA West and East Local Governments Areas are becoming more
progressively faster in their school entering age rate, as the SS 1 students’ age bracket of 13 – 15
overlaps that of the SS 2 (13-18), meanwhile the latter has already met up with those in SS 3.
This is an indication that there is a tendency for the age range of student who would be in SS 3 in
the next few generations to come to be below the maximum age of 18 since the maximum age of
those in SS 1 now is 15, making the highest age of their set that would be in SS 3 in the next 2
years to be 15+2 which is 17, and the minimum (13+2) to be 15. This in turn shows that boys
and girls of the next few generations might be of a sharper mind compared to now, hence
Public 78 39.8
From the table above, 78 of 196 students, that is, 39.8% attended public/government primary
school, while 118, that is, 60.2% of the overall population sampled attended private primary
schools, showing that a higher percentage of the respondents in this wise are graduates of private
primary schools which are mostly believed according to many findings to be better in equipping
young minds for fundamental education than many public schools in Ika North LGA West and
The table below shows the frequency distribution and percentage of the
Page | 44
respondents with their results in Basic or Integrated Science in their Junior Secondary School
Certificate Examination, basically WAEC.
Grade Freq. (F) Perc. %
A 82 41.8
B 42 21.4
C 60 30.6
D 5 2.6
The analysis reflected in the table above shows that a gross total of 184 out of the 196
respondents, that is 93.88% are qualified for science courses according to their assessment
results in Basic Science which constitutes the major rudimentary subject for building/preparing
students in the JSS classes for science subjects including Chemistry in their SSS classes while 5
of them (2.6%) are actually not supposed to be in the Science department, according to the
standard of evaluation. However, 7 of the respondents (3.57%) did not specify what their results
in the JSSCE Basic or Integrated Science was, therefore making only a total of 96.43% of the
population accessible.
It should however be noted that only 124 (A and B graders) have very good qualifications per
results to be in the Sciences, however, the remaining 65 (32.2%) (C & D graders) might have
been considered worthy of being in the Sciences based on their performance in their Basic
Mathematics and Computer Studies without much emphasis laid on their projection for
NOTE: From the table of Age Index and Class (Table 4.4) given in session 4.3.2, it would be
noted that the highest percentage of respondents to the questionnaires presented are in the most
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senior class level of the high school. This is to make sure that their responses to each of the
statements put forward for this research thesis are from a reasonable level of experience about
4.3.5 Chi-Square Analyses of the Collected Data on the Effects of Students’ Background
sections have been subjected to Chi-Square analysis in order to test for their significance and
level of correlation to the poor performance of the sampled population taken to represent the
1. Gender of Respondents
The table below shows how the gender of the respondents affects their performance in
comparison with their aggregate score range in their last end of term Chemistry examination.
However, the population used for this purpose are the SS 2 and 3 students alone, with the
exception of SS 1 students. This is due to the fact that none of the SS 1 students have undertaken
any examination in Chemistry. This also is due to the fact that this study was carried out in the
first term of the 2017/18 academic session.
Female 13 32 20 6 7
Male 16 29 10 2 13
Table 4.7 Gender of Respondents vs Aggregate Scores in their Last End of Term
Examination
>75 74-60 59-45 44-40 <40
Gende O E O E O E O E O E Tota
r l
3 8 2 5 0 1 2 4
Page | 46
Male 1 13.7 2 28.8 1 14.2 2 3.7 1 9.46 70
6 2 9 5 0 1 8 3
Total 2 6 3 8 2 148
9 1 0 0
X2 = Σ(O-E)2
Where X2 = Chi-Square
Σ = Symbol of summation
O = Observed frequency
E = Expected frequency
Grand Total
148 148
= 15.28 = 13.72
E2 = 61 x E2 = 61 x
78 70
(32 –
148 148 32.15)2
= 15.28 = 28.85
E3 = 30 x E3 = 30 x
78
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70
148
148
= 15.81
= 14.12
E4 = 8 x 78
E4 = 8x
70
148
= 4.22 148
= 3.78
E5 = 7 x 78
E5 = 20 x 70
148
= 10.54 148
= 9.46
+ (13 – 9.46)2
9.46
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+0.8382 + 1.1890+1.3247
X2 = 7.1367
= (k – 1) (r – 1)
= (2 – 1) (5 – 1) = 1 x 4 df = 4
Decision Rule 1: If the calculated value is greater than the table value, then such hypothesis shall
However, since the calculated value is lower compared to the value given on the standard table,
then the null hypothesis made against the influence or effect of gender on students’ performance
in Chemistry as follows: “Gender of students does not affect their performance in Chemistry”
In other words, gender does not actually affect the performance of students in
Chemistry.
With a measurement of age in class made against students’ performance in Chemistry, the
following null hypothesis is formulated, viz: “The age of students in a particular class does not
Page | 49
Class O E O E O E O E O E Tota
1 8 5 8 3 5 7 2
8 5 3 5 2 7 5
Total 2 6 3 8 2
9 1 0 0
Table 4.8 Age range per class measured against performance in the last end of term examination
NOTE: From the table of data collection given (Table 4.4) in the previous session 4.3.2, it could
be inferred that the age ranges of the SS 2 and SS 3 respondents are the same, (12 – 18years)
then, the class difference with reference to this same agree range shall be considered against
their performance.
From the table above, the calculated value, X2 cal. is 16.18 with the degree of freedom, df =4 at
0.05 level of significance; meanwhile, the table value by standard, X2 tab= 9.488.
Therefore, following the decision rule as earlier stated in section 1 above, the null hypothesis for
the relationship between students’ age per their class and performance in Chemistry shall be
rejected that is, since the calculated, X2 value is greater than the standard table value of X 2, then
the statement that “students’ age in a particular class does not affect their performance” shall be
rejected for the alternative; that is, “students’ age in a particular class affect their performance in
Chemistry.”
either private or public attended by the student was analyzed to know of it affects the students’
performance in Chemistry as against their aggregate score in the last end of term exam and also
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by the percentage –by- frequency of the respondents according to their level of satisfaction on so
Table 4.9 below gives the Chi-Square analysis of this finding viz:
V.S S N.S S.S F.S
School O E O E O E O E O E Tota
1 8 9 2 8 5 8
e 0 9 2 1 5 2 5 3
Total 4 5 7 8 1 196
8 0 7 3
Table 4.9:Primary School attended tabulated against students’ level of satisfaction with their
performance in chemistry so far
NOTE: This tabulation includes the SS 1 students in the questioned population whose answers
were collated and sums up to 196 students in all. The X 2 calculated equals 33.40 with 4 degree of
freedom and Los 0.05. Meanwhile the standard X 2 on the table is 9.4888. The null hypothesis
stated in this respect as: “The type of primary school (private or public) attended by the students
does not have any effect or contribution to the performance of students in Chemistry.”
However, following the decision rule, since the X 2 calculated is more than the X2 on standard
table, then the hypothesis is rejected for its alternative which shall be stated thus, that:
“The type of primary school attended by the students do affect their performance in Chemistry.”
More so, it was observed that students with private school background were more vocal and
successful in their level of comprehension of questions put forward to them in the questionnaire.
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4. Basic/Integrated Science Junior Secondary School Certificate Examination Result.
The analysis used in testing for the validity of the null hypothesis put forward used in this wise is
Science does not have any correlation with their performance in chemistry.”
V.S S N.S S.S F.S Total
Grade O E O E O E O E O E F %
NOTE: Only 189 of the total 196 respondents supplied an answer, to the question about their
grades, having 7 respondents not providing answer in this respect, and the 96.4% include
students of SS 1 to 3.
Key:
E = Summation
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X = Observed frequency
Y = E = Expected frequency
Grade X Y XY X2 Y2
B 0 1.78 0 0 3.17
B 0 1.56 0 0 2.43
C 0 2.22 0 0 4.93
D 0 1.24 0 0 1.54
D 0 1.32 0 0 1.74
D 0 0.21 0 0 0.04
D 0 0.19 0 0 0.04
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E 189 188.99 3511.64 4559 3645.13
n= 20
δ= (20)(3511.64) – (186)(188.99)
34519.69
= 55459 x 37185.38
34519.69
= 2062263989
= 34519.69
45412.16
= 0.7601
δ= 0.76
Decision Rule 2:
1. +0.5 to +0.9 connotes high positive correlation or relationship between X and Y, i.e the
observed frequency and expected frequency have a positive association with each other.
2. -0.5 to -0.9 means a high negative correlation, meaning there is an inverse association
between X and Y.
3. If the value is close to zero, ranging from 0.4 downwards, the linear relationship between
X and Y is weak
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Since the calculated value is +0.7601, it shows that there is a direct relationship between the
performance of students in the JSS Basic/Integrated Science and their performance in Chemistry
at the Senior Secondary School level. The interpretation of this, therefore, is that “the level of
From the data collected for the purpose of this study in respect of students’ perception about
Chemistry as a subject in the Sciences, the following analysis was developed and tested for its
The first Table, 4.11 reflects the frequency distribution of the data, while Table 4.12 reflects the
Chi-Square analysis of the collected data derived from the respondents’ responses to the
F % F % F % F % F % F %
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Following the recorded analysis in the table above; 67.3% of the respondents (196 in all), that is
132 of them agreed strongly that Chemistry is of importance to them, while 61 (31.1%) of them
agreed. Meanwhile, only 3 out of all, constituting just 1.5% are of the opinion that Chemistry is
2 respondents (1.0%) strongly agreed to the statement that they do not like Chemistry, 6.1%
agreed to that same statement, 11 (5.6%) were not sure. However, 33.7% and 53% disagreed and
strongly disagreed respectively to this statement. This means that a larger percentage of the
40.0% strongly agreed to the statement that they enjoyed chemistry theory lessons, and 45.4%
agreed to that statement, these make up a total of 85.4% of the total population where the rest are
either not sure, disagreed or strongly disagreed to that. This shows that most students do enjoy
32.1% and 50% of the respondents’ perception of chemistry is that it is not a difficult subject,
making a total of 82.1% of the total population. The rest either are not sure, disagreed or strongly
disagreed to this statement, according to the analysis given in the table. This shows that to a
much higher population of students, chemistry is not a difficult subject for them to handle.
44.4% and 48.0% strongly agreed and agreed respectively with the statement that chemistry
practical is enjoyed and preferred compared to its theory. These sum up to 92.40% of 100%
population, indicating that so many of the students prefer the practical aspect of chemistry,
unlike just 2.5% which either disagreed or strongly disagreed to this statement, while 5.1% of
51.5% and 41.3% strongly agreed and agreed to the statement of fact that they liked their
Chemistry teacher. These constitute 92.8% of the total population. This generally
S/N SA A NS O SD
Grade O E O E O E O E O E F
Page | 56
1 132 77.3 61 72.5 - 9.3 3 16.5 - 20.3 196
portray that the highest percentage of the population factually liked their teacher. From the
Table 4.12a above, the calculated X2 equals 692.30, meanwhile the table value for X2 is 31.410
= (6 – 1) (5 – 1)
=5x4
= 20
Since X2 calc. is greater than X2, then the null hypothesis that, “Students’ perception about
chemistry affects their performance in it”, shall be accepted based on the decision rule 1 in a
simple statement, it can be put that students’ negative perception of the subject would affect
them negatively while their positive perception of it would affect performance positively.
The formulated null hypothesis in this respect states thus: “There is no direct relationship
between students’ attitudes toward chemistry and their performance in the subject.”
Page | 57
SA A NS D SD
S/N
O % E O % E O % E O % E O % E
7 11 5.6 27.75 41 20.9 58.25 12 6.1 21.25 73 37.2 48.0 59 30.1 40.75
8 33 16.8 27.75 39 19.9 58.25 29 14.8 21.25 64 32.7 48.0 31 15.8 40.75
9 44 22.4 27.75 11 58.7 58.25 19 9.7 21.25 14 7.1 48.0 4 2.0 40.75
10 23 12 27.75 38 19.4 58.25 25 12.8 21.25 41 20.9 48.0 69 35.2 40.75
Total 111 233 85 192 163
Table 4.13: Students’ Attitude Frequency Distribution and Chi-square Analysis The table 4.13
above shows the analysis of the data collected in regards to testing for students’ attitude in terms
of how frequent they study, how they do their studying and some others toward chemistry as a
subject. The table consists of the observed frequency, ‘O’, percentage (%) of the observed
X2 calc. was gotten to be 204.89, while X2 tabulated on the standard chi-square table gives
21.026 under 12 degree of freedom ‘df’ and 0.05 level of significance. However, since the X 2
calculated is far much greater than the tabulated value, x2 tab, then the stated null hypothesis
sated in this regard is rejected, following the decision rule 1. This means that the alternative
“There is a direct relationship between students’ attitudes toward chemistry and their
performance in the subject.” Simply put, if chemistry students’ attitude towards chemistry is
positive, then their performance would be positively affected. But if otherwise, their performance
Null Hypothesis: “The attitudes of chemistry teachers toward their students do not have anything
SA A NS D SD To
S/N O % E O % E O % E O % E O % E O
Page | 58
16 103 52.6 58.50 65 33.2 40.0 10 5.1 11.0 13 6.6 35. 5 2.6 5 196
50 1.
17 14 7.1 58.50 15 7.7 40.0 12 6.1 11.0 58 29.6 35. 97 49.5 5 196
50 1.
In testing for how teachers’ attitudes toward students affect the latter’s performance in
chemistry, the data shown in the table above gives the frequency distribution and percentages of
alternative which states that “The attitudes of chemistry teachers toward their students do have a
This connotes that a positive attitude would produce a positive effective on their performance,
Null Hypothesis: “Learning Environment of students and their school facilities for learning do
Using chi-square method of data analysis, the table below was formed in respect
Page | 59
SA A NS D SD
S/N O % E O % E O % E O % E O % E
18 117 59.7 47.33 71 36.2 41.67 3 1.5 17.33 2 1.0 32.00 3 1.5 57.67
20 23 1.2 47.33 38 1.9 41.67 25 1.3 17.33 41 2.1 32.00 69 35.2 57.67
21 2 1.0 47.33 16 8.2 41.67 24 1.2 17.33 53 27.0 32.00 101 51.5 57.67
1
T
1
O
5
From the table above, the calculated X 2 value is 225.07 with its degree of freedom, “df” as 8 and
0.05 level of significance. Meanwhile X2 tab is 15.507. By obeying the decision rule 1, this null
hypothesis was considered invalid and rejected for its alternative hypothesis stated thus:
“Students’ learning environment and facilities available for the learning process have a strong
Page | 60
To test for the validity of the null hypothesis stated above, the following data was collected and
analyzed using chi-square method of analysis, and it also shows the frequency of the observed
frequency.
distribution.
From the analyses put up in the table 4.16 above, the following table of X2 value was derived:
X2 cal. X2 tab df Los
S/N ly
F % F % F % F % F % F %
Term Test
Tests
3 End of Term 120 61.2 33 16.8 20 10.2 13 6.6 10 5.1 196 100
Tests
Tests 3
Page | 61
5 Past 38 19.4 20 10.2 90 45.9 13 6.6 35 17.9 196 100
External
Exam
National
Exams
In obedience to the decision rule 1, the null hypothesis stated as touching this was invalid and
rejected, hence the alternative hypothesis to this which states that “The effectiveness of students’
assessment and achievement do affect (strongly) their performance in chemistry ” was accepted.
The implication of this therefore is that when there is an effective assessment and check of
students’ performance; but if otherwise, it would have a negative effect on their performance 4.9
The table above shows the entries of the frequency of how the stated forms of evaluation [self-
evaluation] is being undergone by students individually or via the strategy/plan of the school.
98.5% of the total respondents gave their answers to the statement according to how often each
form of evaluation is undergone by them. The highest among them that is 49.5% stated that they
occasionally have beginning of term tests while 48.5 % also said they occasionally have weekly
tests. From the findings, the highest percentage so far that do undergone End-Of-Term Tests is
61.2%. 21.8% said they had never undergone any interschool test. 45.9% did occasionally under
take past external examination and only 53.1% did always undertake a revision of their part
national examination.
Page | 62
With all these aforementioned and tabled analyses, it could be seen that the highest form of
evaluation that most of the respondents do take frequently is end of term tests followed by past
national examination.
O E O E O E O E O E F
0 3
0 3
End of term test 120 58.5 33 30.3 20 63.17 13 17.67 10 24.17 196
0 3
0 3
Examination 0 3
Examination 0 3
2 9 5
Correlation coefficient analysis of the evaluation frequency of students using each of those
aforementioned tests and revision Table 4.18a gives the following results as derived from tables
4.18a & b.
δ= nΣXY –ΣXΣY
Page | 63
(nΣX2 – Σ(X)2)(nΣY2 –Σ(Y)2)
O = Observed frequency
E = Expected frequency
Meanwhile,
Grand Total
Y=E
Y2 = E2 etc.
X Y XY X2 Y2
Page | 64
34 30.33 1031.22 1156 919.91
Table 4.18b
Page | 65
Where,
n= 30
ΣX=1103 ΣXY=54542.17
ΣX2=73128 ΣY2=55374.17
δ= 30(54542.17) – (1163)(1176.10)
δ= 268460.80
2.3389X1011
δ= 268460.80
483616.61
δ= 0.5551
δ= +0.56
Following the decision rule 2 stated in section 4.3.5 (4) that when the correlation coefficient, δ,
equals +0.5 or above to +0.9, it connotes that there is a high positive correlation between X and
Y, i.e., the observed and expected frequencies have a positive association with each other.
Hence, the null hypothesis that could be stated in this regard as follows: “There is no significant
level of relationship between students’ performance in chemistry and their evaluation frequency”
shall be considered invalid and rejected for its alternative which states thus: “There is a
significant level of relationship between students’ performance in chemistry and the evaluation
frequency.”
Based on the decision rule, it could be concluded by the correlation coefficient value calculated
Page | 66
4.10 Teachers’ Questionnaire Analysis
Eight (8) teachers of chemistry, one from each school selected for the purpose of this study,
responded to the questionnaires prepared to make an investigation into the factors responsible as
the causes of students’ poor performance in chemistry. The following gives a brief highlight of
Gender
Male = 6 =75%
Female = 2 = 25%
Term of Service
Temporary = 2 =25%
Contract = 1 = 12.5%
Permanent = 5 = 62.5%
Level of Education
NCE = 0
ND/HND = 1 = 12.5%
B.Ed = 1 = 12.5
B.Sc = 3 = 37.5%
Teaching So Far
1 – 3 years = 3 = 37.5%
4 – 6 years = 1 = 12.5%
7 – 10 years = 2 = 25.5%
Page | 67
Years in Service at Current School
11 – 15 years = 1 = 12.5%
NOTE: These analyses are to buttress and affirm the data collected & analyzed on the part of the
students in the previous sections, and also to test for the effects and validity of some other factors
The above information given about the teachers who responded to the
professionally, gender, and term of service, each of which are believed to likely have effect on
how they teach and consequently affect the output of their students.
From the collected data, 3, that is 37.50% of the respondents (teachers) strongly agreed to the
statement that their students genuinely have interest in chemistry, and 5 (62.50%) opined on the
basis of score point (4) (that is “Agree”) on the Likert scale to the same statement. This is in
concordance with the data collected from question 1 on the students’ questionnaire which has it
that 132 (67.35%) and 61 (31.12%) of the student respondents strongly agreed and agreed
respectively to the statement that chemistry is of importance to them. To test further what their
interest in chemistry looks like in question 2, 105 (53.57%) and 66 (33.67%) of the students
strongly disagreed and disagreed respectively to the negative statement that chemistry is not a
subject they liked. This, on the contrary, means that 105 and 66 of the respondents strongly
agreed and agreed respectively to the statement that they liked chemistry. In the comparison of
the teachers’ opinions with those of their students about chemistry, it could be inferred that the
most
Page | 68
of the student have interest in chemistry as a subject.
4.10.3 Rudimentary/Fundamental Understanding of Chemistry
To know about how students’ performance is being affected in chemistry by their understanding
of its rudiments as expressed in their level of its understanding and the ease with which they
understand it, the following data was analyzed and tested on its effect in their performance using
correlation coefficient analysis
Question SA A NS D SD Total
Number O E O E O E O E O E 0
Total 2 7 0 6 1 16
δ= nΣXY –ΣXΣY
Grand Total
E 1 = 2 x 8 = 1.00 E4 = 6 x 8 = 3.00
16 16
E 2 = 7 x 8 = 3.50 E5 = 1 x 8 = 0.50
16 16
E3 = 0 x 8 = 0.00
16
Page | 69
X Y XY X2 Y2
Σ 16 16 45.00 52 45.50
Where, n=10
ΣX= 16 ΣY=16
ΣX2=52 ΣY2=45.50
ΣXY= 45.00
δ= 10(45) – (16)(16)
δ= 450–256
264 x -96
Page | 70
= ± 194
25344
= ± 1.2186 δ= ±1.22
According to decision rule 2, the fact that the calculated value of the correlation coefficient, δ, is
lesser than zero (0) shows that there is a very weak correlation between the understanding of the
basic rudiments of chemistry and students’ performance in it. Hence, it could be so stated that the
their performance. So, poor understanding or even a lack of knowledge of chemistry rudiments
Five structured questions were put forward to teachers in order to know about how their
students’ parental background affects their performance in chemistry. However, from students’
questionnaire, the following analysis was derived as touching their parent’s profession which in
the way or the other depict their levels of education and financial status as may be reasonably
observed.
Father Mother
Profession F % F %
Farming 24 12.2
Page | 71
From the table above, the likes of Medical Doctoring, Engineering, Nursing and Teaching are the
ones categorized under professional professions while others are as directly stated, both for
fathers and mothers. However, the highest percentage of the professionals so mentioned are
teachers either in primary or secondary schools with few as Principals and Head Teachers.
From questions 21v and 24(i – v) of teachers’ questionnaire, the following table was developed
to measure the inputs of the parents toward the provision of their children’s needs and how it
Table 4.20a
Q Num. SA A NS D SD
O E O E O E O E O E Total
Total 8 16 8 10 6 48
E1 = 8 x 8 = 1.33 E4 = 10 x 8 = 1.67
48 48
48 48
E3 = 8 x 8 = 1.33
Page | 72
48
X Y XY X2 Y2
Page | 73
5 1.67 8.35 25 2.79
n=30
ΣX= 48 ΣY=48.00
ΣX2=137 ΣY2=86.76
ΣXY= 85.43
δ= 30(85.43) – (48)(148)
δ= 2562.90 – 2304.00
δ= 258.90
1806 x 298.80
= 258.90
Page | 74
539632.80
= 0.3524 δ= +0.35
In obedience to decision rule 2, it could be inferred that the relationship existing between
This shows that the parental background of any student has a very weak effect on such students’
performance in chemistry. Hence, regardless of students’ parental background, they are expected
to be able to do reasonably well. However, good parental background will aid students’
experimental exercises, and even trained personnel needed to facilitate the teachinglearning
process of chemistry.
Question 23 of the teachers’ questionnaire has 5 subs under it channeled to check for its
Table 4.21b: Correlation Coefficient Table for the Effect of Learning Facilities on
O E O E O E O E O E Total
Page | 75
Total 9 11 0 18 2 40
E1 = 9 x 8 = 1.80 E4 = 18 x 8 = 3.60
40 40
40 40
E3 = 0x 8 = 0.00
40
Using correlation coefficient to test for the relationship existing between learning facilities
unavailability and poor performance of students in chemistry, the following calculation was
carried out:
δ = nΣXY –ΣXΣY
X Y XY X2 Y2
Page | 76
4 2.20 8.80 16 4.84
Table 4.21c
Page | 77
ΣXY= 106.00
Therefore,
δ= 25(106) – (40)(40)
δ= 2650 – 1600
δ= 1050.00
(1900.00) x (1050.00)
= 1050.00
1995000.00
= 0.7434
= +0.74
In obedience to decision rule 2, the calculated correlation coefficient value being +074 depicts
the fact that there is a positive association or direct proportionality between the availability of
learning facilities and chemistry students’ performance. This shows that if there is sufficient and
appropriate availability of needed facilities to aid teaching learning processes, then there would
be a positive effect, i.e. improvement on the outputs of students as there are facilities to aid
teaching.
Question 24a is a set of structured questions prepared to know the type of teaching methods
employed by teachers per time in their teaching processes. The following table shows the data
analysis of the methods as given by teachers:
Teaching Method Always Often Occasionally Rarely Never Tot
al
Page | 78
O E O E O E O E O E O
Total 20 16 13 5 2 56
Table XY
56 56
56 56
E3 = 13 x 8 = 1.86
56
Using Chi-square method of analysis to see if there is any effect in the actual sense of poor
teaching method on the performance of students in chemistry, the following calculations were
carried out and table XYZ below shows the results obtained
+ (1 – 2.86)2 + (2 – 2.86)2
2.86
Page | 79
+ (3 – 2.29)2 + (2 – 2.29)2 + (0-2.29)2+ (1 – 2.29)2 + (2 – 2.29)2
+ (5 – 2.29)2 + (3 – 2.29)2
2.29
1.86
2.86
2.29
+
0.02 + 4.58 + 0.74 + 0.74 + 3.46 + 0.02 + 1.30
1.86
+
0.08 + 1.66 + 0.50 + 1.66 + 0.50 + 0.50 + 0.50
0.71
0.29
X calc. =
2
14.29 + 6.72 + 5.84 + 7.61 + 11.72
X2 calc. = 46.18
Page | 80
Degree of Freedom ‘df’ = (c – 1) (r – 1)
= (5 – 1) (7 – 10)
= (4) (6)
= 24
Los = 0.05
X2 Calc. X2tab df Los
Table XYZ
In obedience to the rule of decision-making 1, since the calculated value for X 2 is greater than
that of the tabulated value, then the null hypothesis which could be stated in this respect was
Null Hypothesis: “There is no significant effect of a poor learning facility on the performance of
The null hypothesis stated above is rejected for its alternative which states thus: “There is a
significant effect on the performance of senior secondary school students in chemistry when the
learning facilities are poor.” It therefore could be stated conclusively, that there is a direct
Competence of Students
In testing for how the English Language comprehension capacity of students and their
mathematical competence may affect their performance in chemistry, the following analysis was
Page | 81
Q SA A NS D SD
Num. Total
O E O E O E O E O E
Total 3 10 0 5 6 24
Table 4.22a
Page | 82
3 2.00 6.00 9.00 4.00
Table 4.22b
Where, n=15
ΣXY= 59.98
δ= 15(59.98) – (24)(24.06)
(1125–576)(849.60-578.88)
(549) x (270.72)
δ= 322.26
148625.28
δ = 0.8359 δ = +0.84
Following decision rule 2; having the correlation coefficient, δ, value as +0.84 signifies that there
capacity, mathematical competence and their performance in chemistry. The implication of this
effect is that, the better the ability of any student to comprehend English Language and handle
Page | 83
In a way to know if the content of the syllabus was usually worked on completely before the end
of each term, question 22 was put forward before the responding teachers to know if they did
finish it. 7 of them responded positive to it, stating that they did finish it. 3 did do by having
extra classes with their students on weekends. 1 stated she did finish up the syllabus by giving
them home assignments, and 3 others said they did finish it up with them by cutting off
irrelevances, focusing on the major parts of the syllabus and making sure that they started very
fast and ended very fast in about two weeks before examination and then making revision of
In terms of workload per week and class size, the following tables give a light:
1 – 10 1
11 – 20 -
21 – 30 2
31 -40 3
41 – 50 2
>50 -
1–5 1
6 – 10 2
11 – 15 3
>15 2
Page | 84
However, to test for how these affect the outputs of students in terms of their performance in
chemistry under those workloads and class sizes, the following analysis was carried out:
Table 4.24
Q Num. SA A NS D SD
O E O E O E O E O E Total
Total 1 4 1 7 3 16
X2tab = 9.488
From table 4.24 above, X2 was calculated and found to be 9.14 at 0.05 level of significance and
degree of freedom 4; meanwhile X2 tab= 9.488 following the decision rule 1, it could be stated
that the null hypothesis to this effect would be accepted and considered valid. That is:
“There is no significant negating effect of curriculum content, syllabus, and teachers’ workload
4.11 Summary
This chapter outlines the views of both teachers and students about what the likely factors
behind the poor performance of students in chemistry could be, and from findings and data
analyses, it could be concluded that all of the mentioned factors here in this chapter are indeed
…..which were rejected as being parts of the factors causing students poor performance. It is
noteworthy, however, that 183 out of the total 196 students who responded to this study’s
Page | 85
questionnaire stated that they wished to go further to study chemistry or related courses in
tertiary institutions, while the remaining 13 students who said they do not wish to continue in the
line of chemistry said so mainly because most of them want to study Engineering courses such as
Mechanical Engineering and Electrical Engineering. The essence of this note is to prove that
most of these students have a good liking and interest in chemistry and would do brilliantly well
if the appropriate help needed to have their various ambitions in the line of chemistry as a course
Page | 86
CHAPTER FIVE
5.1 Introduction
In this chapter, an attempt is made to give the summary of the findings made in this research as
touching the causes of poor performance of senior secondary school students in chemistry, a case
study of Ika North LGA in order to state clearly which path to direct any remedying step that
might be taken by anybody, organization or even the government in this regard, give
conclusions, recommendations and suggestions for further studies. The information obtained for
this study was analyzed both qualitatively and quantitatively using Chi-square and correlation
5.2 Summary
From the data analysis in chapter 4, the study isolated some factors which were found to be the
ones responsible for the persistent poor performance of senior secondary school students in
56.63% of the students were females while 43.37% of them were males and a higher percentage
of them (55.61%) were of private school background. The average age of the respondents are 13
and 15 years in SS 1, 2 and 3 respectively. 38.78% of them were in SS 3, 36.73% in SS2, and
24.49 in SS 1. 41.84% of them had A in their JSSCE Basic or Integrated Science results, 21.43%
had B, 30.61% had C, and 2.55% had D, while 7 of them (3.57%) did not indicate their grades in
the results
Page | 87
Majority of the respondents had good perception about chemistry as a subject and even about
Results from the chi-square analysis of students’ perception showed that their positive
perception of chemistry and its surrounding factors had a positive effect on their performance. In
other words, if they were having a negative perception about chemistry, it would affect their
The result of the analysis carried out to know the relationship between students’ attitudes toward
chemistry as a subject and their performance in the subject showed that both are directly
proportional to each other. In other words, a positive attitude produces positive performance,
In testing for how this affects students’ performance, it was found out that this factor directly
affects the performance of students as the X 2 calculated was 210.63, compared to the table value
of X2 which was 9.488 showed this relationship. If chemistry teachers have a positive attitude
towards their responsibility and duty of imparting their students with their right knowledge using
appropriate methods and skills, there would be good performance on the part of chemistry
students.
The null hypothesis stated in this respect that, “Learning environment of students and their
school facilities for learning do not affect or influence poor performance in chemistry” was
rejected for its alternative which states that “the learning environment of students and their
This relationship was analyzed using chi-square analysis, and X2 calc. was found to be
225.07 under, d.f. 8 with 0.05 LoS. Meanwhile the X2 tabulated is 15.507.
Page | 88
6. Students’ Assessment and Achievement
It was found out also that the effectiveness of students’ assessment and achievement test do
affect, strongly, their performance in chemistry. The implication of this is that when there is an
effective assessment and check of students’ achievement in chemistry, there would be a positive
This was found to have a very direct interdependent relationship with students’ performance in
chemistry. This was evident as a result of the correlation coefficient, δ, used to test for this which
From the teachers’ questionnaire analysis carried out using correlation coefficient, it was found
out that this factor does not out-rightly affect the performance of students in chemistry. This was
proved so as the calculated value for the ‘δ’ was found out to be 1.22 against the decision rule 2
which states that when the value so gotten is less than 0, being -0.50- -0.90, then such indicates a
relationship.
This factor was considered both in students and teachers questionnaires where the profession of
parents and their inputs both as an individual and as an organizational association in relation to
teachers, called Parents & Teachers Association (PTA) were used to determine what their status
might likely be. From findings, it was discovered through correlation co-efficient analysis that
this factor only has a very weak inter-relationship with the performance of students in chemistry.
Page | 89
This has been tested for its effect on students’ performance earlier via students’ questionnaire
but was tested for again via teachers’ questionnaire. This was to affirm the genuineness and
validity of the fact that the facilities and resources made available in the school in form of
laboratory for experimental works, apparatuses needed, and some other teaching resources have
a lot to determine in the performance of students in chemistry, and it was found as a core
Using chi-square analysis, X2 calculated was 46.18, X2 tabulated was 36.415, df was 24, and the
LoS was 0.05, this simply indicated that the teaching method employed by teachers during
teaching-learning process determines how knowledge is being transferred, and this in turn
determines what the output of students would be as exhibited in their performance. A poor
method of teaching gives a poor performance as its yield. However, the likes of practical’s,
demonstration and problem solving were the most commonly used methods by majority of the
Using correlation coefficient, a strong value +0.84 was gotten from the analysis, indicating that
these combined factors are of significant effect on the performance of students in chemistry. This
is also buttressing why it is a stipulated standard for entrance into the Science Departments that
English Language and Mathematics must be passed in not less than a credit pass grade.
These three (3) combined factors were found corroborative and were so brought together to be
tested using chi-square method of analysis, where X 2 calculated = 9.14 under df. 4 and LoS 0.05,
meanwhile X2 tabulated = 9.488. This implies that there was no significant negating effect of
chemistry.
Page | 90
5.3 Conclusion
From the foregoing summary, it can be concluded that the causes of poor performance of
students in chemistry: a case study of Ika North LGA West and East Local
Government Areas of Osun State, South West, Nigeria include the following:
6. Inadequate Evaluation
proportional manner.
5.4. Recommendations
Having successfully mapped out the factors responsible for poor performance of senior
secondary school students in Ika North LGA, the following recommendations are therefore given
as derived from the observations made in the course of this study to the following stakeholders in
Page | 91
1. The ministry of Education should directly or via agents:
Enhance proper orientation of learners right from primary school levels about what they
need in order to become what they each desire to become in life, following this process up in the
Junior Secondary School levels and then to their Senior Secondary School levels as well. This
trend will enable students to know which is which in the aspect of their life pursuit career-wisely
and will also serve as a motivation for them to perform superbly in every area where they need to
Improve the kind of foundation laid for students right from primary school levels about
schools as it was found out that majority of those student respondents who attended Government
primary schools have more English Language comprehension and mathematical incompetence
Government and Private - possession of adequate facilities and resources such as standard and
well equipped laboratories (especially chemistry lab) for practical teaching and learning process
Page | 92
Enhance strict and incorruptible supervision of schools to help improve students’ general
secondary school entry behavior and particularly their background in English Language and
schools as most of them are not very devoted to their responsibility to their students.
Facilitate and call for re-training of teachers in order to help them improve on their
teaching skills and upgrade their capacity to meet up with the standard of this modern day
teaching strategies
Release education allocated funds in good time in order to facilitate the acquisition of
necessary teaching and learning materials and services needed for curriculum implementation.
Expand existing facilities like classrooms and libraries to help improve teachers’ easy
class control and facilitate an encouraging environment for students to study as and when due.
Always have thorough screening exercise for any teaching staff personnel before
personnel such as laboratory technician and tutors for academic activities within the school
system
Hire more teachers in order to reduce workload on a singular tutor and to increase
Provide for innovative ways to motivate chemistry teachers like taking them through
Organize motivational talks by chemistry professionals to help change the negative attitude of
Present chemistry to students as a simple subject and not as a difficult one as most of
them did do. Presentation and referral of chemistry as a volatile course/subject should be
stopped.
Use simple English grammars in presenting their teachings and utilize familiar examples
Organize science clubs, seminars and quiz to help intrigue students and widen their
Use adequate and relevant charts, tables and other necessary materials which would make
chemistry more pragmatic and concrete to students when teaching them in the class.
widening the outlook of students & motivating them about what they can make out of chemistry
as a course of study.
Set up every experiment under each topic in chemistry in the laboratory, using adequate
apparatuses and improvising where necessary with every individual student being part of the
Enhance their testing policy by giving the students more chemistry tests, tasks and home
assignments apart from the school-controlled midterm and end of term tests.
Devote and channel more of their inputs into providing for their children’s academic
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Give sufficient time and freedom for their wards to study indepthly their textbooks and
workbooks at home.
weakness and to assist them even if needs be that they have a home tutor or go for extra classes.
Enlighten their children about what they could become through chemistry in terms of
career and purpose fulfillment as an individual with successful feats in the society.
Encourage their children and motivate them through reinforcements and reward when
they have done well in their study and when need to improve
Work hand in hand with their wards’ school management and administration through
chemistry.
Devise a system that would give more study time to students in such a way that the
students would still be in the school and help each other in areas of weaknesses through group
discussion.
Enhance and organize programs that would give chemistry students the chance to exhibit
their potential understanding and knowledge of some concepts in chemistry, such as quiz,
debates and symposia. This would in turn stand to challenge their fellow students who are
audience to this whose levels of knowledge might not be as those of their contemporaries whose
NOTE: The Government in general needs to help these students by all possible means of giving
students proper orientation of what they need in order to become what they need to become what
they each desire to become in life – doing this for them even right from
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their early days in the Junior Secondary School levels. This will enable them to know which
subjects should take paramount place of importance in their hearts in alignment with their
pursuits career-wisely.
This also needs to be given reasonable consideration since education is actually the bedrock of
every nation’s development. It should not just be handled with levity as a matter of going to
school for going sake, but rather be offered to provide functional literacy and professional
vocation for each students such that their productivity benefits the society at large.
i. The effect of parent’s profession on chemistry student’s career outlook ii. A comprehensive
study of the effect of the type of primary school attended by students on their performance in
Secondary school students in chemistry compared with that of private secondary school students.
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QUESTIONNAIRE
Male
2. Your Gender: Female
5. What was your grade in Basic Science/Integrated Science in your Junior Secondary
School Certificate? A B C D
Section II
For this section, most of the statements require you to tick the right column appropriately;
A = Agree
NS = Not Sure
D = Disagree
SD = Strongly Disagree
S/N Statement S A NS D SD
1 Chemistry is of importance to me
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7 I do not often study chemistry on my own
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23 My teacher is not very sound in teaching chemistry
24. How often do you perform chemistry practical in the chemistry laboratory? Once per
25. What was your performance in the last chemistry end of term exam? (Tick One)
Above 75% 74 – 60% 59 – 45%
44 – 40% Less
than 40%
Fairly Satisfied
Weekly tests
Revision of past
external exams
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Revision of past
national exams
28. How was the performance of your seniors in their last WAEC and NECO results,
according to reports?
29. Does your Mum or Dad use to buy you textbooks, notebooks and other educational
materials? Yes No
Daddy …………………………………..
Mummy ………………………………...
Relatives None
32. Do you still wish to continue studying chemistry or related courses like Medicine
…………………………….
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iv. Your Parents………………………………………………..
v. Yourself ……………………………………………………..
TEACHER’S QUESTIONNAIRE
Male Female
2. Your level of education? NCE ND/HND B.Ed.
Permanent
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Section B
SA = Strongly Agree
A = Agree
NS = Not Sure
D = Disagree
SD = Strongly Disagree
Please provide appropriate answers to each of the statements by ticking the box you feel is the
most suitable as per your opinion:
S/N Statement SA A NS D SD
17. How do you classify the performance of your students in chemistry examination,
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(Please explain) ……………………………
19. In your opinion, what are the factors that contribute to poor performance in
chemistry? 1. …………………………….
2. …………………………….
…………………………….
…………………………...
Below Average
performance in chemistry
22. Do you use to cover chemistry syllabus adequately? If yes, what are the strategies
………………………………
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23. In terms of facilities, kindly respond to the following:
Statement SA A NS D SD
24a. Indicate your preference in usage during your teaching from the following
techniques
Teaching Method Always Often Occasionally Rarely Never
Practical
Projects
Demonstration
Lecture
Problem solving
Group discussion
Tutorials
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b. Indicate your preference in terms of parental influence on the performance of your students in
chemistry
Statement SA A NS D SD
25. To help improve the performance of students in chemistry in your school, what do you think
……………………………………..
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REFERENCES
School Students in Economics: A case study of Ilesha West Local Government Area of Osun
Akanmu, O.M, Aluko, K.O., Akinyeye C.O, Makinde F.B. (2015) Introduction to general
Akinyele, B.A. (1997). Why our students fail practical chemistry examination (Volumetric
Analysis) at the ordinary level. Journal of Science Teachers Association of Nigeria (STAN)
Beck & Earl, M. (2002). Key issues in secondary education continuum. New York: MPG Books
Ltd., Cornwall
Brener, K. (2004). Challenge your teaching. American Society for cell Biology (ASCB).
Hornby, A.S. (8th ed.) Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary of Current English. United
Kingdom: Oxford University Press Ltd.
Publishers
Komolafe, M.O., Akinsanya T.O., & Akanmu, O.M. (2010). Fundamentals of teachers’
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http://dx.dx.org/10.4314/afrrev.v614.22
https://www.unn.edu.ng/publications/titles/images/NWORA%2520WORK%252
01.pdf
http://irlibrary.ku.ac.kdhandle/123456789/189/browse%3fvalue%3dogbembo%252c%2b
john
Ojukwu, M.O. (2016). School environment, insecurity, and students’ behavior. Retrieved from:
http://independent.academia.edu/ojukwumo&sa=u&ved=2ahukewihlzdxzc-
Wole Ibikunle & Femi Oke (2015). Psychology of Child Development. Ilesha: Busco Publishers
Zechariah, K.M, Komes Kibet, George M.M., George R.N (2012). Factors contributing to
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