EFFECTS OF HANDS-ON TEACHING STRATEGY ON SENIOR SECONDARY CHEMISTRY STUDENTS’ ATTITUDE TOWARDS ORGANIC CHEMISTRY IN ILORIN METROPOLIS, KWARA STATE, NIGERIA

Abstract

This study investigated the effects of hands-on teaching strategy on senior secondary Chemistry students’ attitude towards organic chemistry in Ilorin metropolis, Kwara State, Nigeria. The study specifically examined the attitudes of students towards Chemistry before and after treatment. The population of this study comprised 12,240 senior secondary school students in all public senior secondary schools in Ilorin metropolis, Kwara State, Nigeria. The sample consisted of 180 SSS II students. The sample was selected using multistage sampling procedure. Students Attitudinal Scale (SAS) were used to gather data used for the study. The face and content validity of the instruments were ensured by experts in Test-Measurement and the reliability was determined using test-retest method while the reliability of the instruments was determined using Pearson’s Product Moment Coefficient Correlation; the analysis yielded reliability coefficients of 0.87 and 0.79 respectively. The data were analysed using descriptive statistics involving percentage, mean and standard deviation and inferential statistics of ANCOVA. The two hypotheses were tested at 0.05 level of significance. The findings from the study revealed that students’ attitude towards Chemistry was negative before treatment and became positive after treatment; students taught with hands-on teaching strategy performed better than those taught using conventional teaching method. It implies that the hands-on teaching strategy is more effective for enhancing better performance in organic Chemistry.  Based on the findings of this study, it was concluded that the hands-on teaching strategy is more potent in producing better performance outcomes in senior secondary school chemistry than the conventional method. It was recommended among others that Chemistry teachers should be made to recognize the potentials of hands-on teaching strategy and utilize it for better performance of students in Chemistry.