Effects Of Instructional Strategies On Chemistry Students’ Retention In Secondary Schools In Osisioma Ngwa Local Government Area, Abia State
Ndukwe Rosecolette Chibuzor
Curriculum Studies and Educational Technology, Faculty of Education, University of Port Harcourt
Dr A A O Mumuni
Curriculum Studies and Educational Technology, Faculty of Education, University of Port Harcourt
Keywords: Problem-solving, Mastery learning, Concept mapping, Instructional strategies, Electrolysis, Chemistry retention
Abstract
The study investigated the effects of instructional strategies; problem-solving, mastery learning and concept mapping on Chemistry students’ retention in secondary schools in Osisioma Ngwa Local Government Area of Abia State. The design of the study was quasi experimental (pre-test, post-test, control) design. The population consists of 622 SS2 Chemistry students. Purposive sampling technique was used to obtain a sample size of 185 senior secondary two (SS2) Chemistry students in intact classes. Two researcher developed test instruments; Chemistry Performance Test (CPT) and Chemistry Retention Test (CRT) were validated, the reliability was established using the test re-test method with reliability coefficients of 0.71 for CPT and 0.74 for CRT using Pearson’s Product Moment Correlation. Four research questions and four hypotheses guided the study. The data obtained were analyzed using mean and standard deviation to answer the research questions and analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) for testing the null hypotheses at 0.05 level of significance. The results revealed remarkable significant increase in students’ retention mean scores when taught with problem-solving, mastery learning and concept mapping instructional strategies than when taught with lecture method. No significant difference was seen in the mean retention scores of students taught with the three instructional strategies (problem-solving, mastery learning and concept mapping). However, problem-solving, mastery learning and concept mapping enhanced higher retention mean scores in students than lecture method. Based on the findings of the study, it is recommended that teachers should consider using, concept mapping, problem-solving and mastery learning instructional strategies for Chemistry instruction to improve the retention of their students for Chemistry examinations.