Dr Moriliat Jumoke Afolabi
Abstract
This study investigated the effects of laboratory techniques on academic achievement and interest of secondary school chemistry students and examined the influence of gender on students taught with Laboratory techniques and Lecture method. A quasi experimental/control design was adopted. Three research questions were raised and three hypotheses were formulated and tested at 0.05 level of significance. A sample of 100 Senior Secondary Two (SSII) students from two schools in Kaduna metropolis was drawn from a population of 1,655 students and 24 schools using purposive sampling technique; one of the schools was assigned experimental group while the other was control group. The instruments used for data collection were Chemistry Achievement Test (CAT) and Chemistry Students’ Interest Scale (CSIS). CAT and CSIS were administered to students as pretest and posttest. The results were analyzed using Mean and Standard Deviation. t-test statistic was used to test the hypotheses. The result indicated that students taught with laboratory techniques achieved significantly better than their counterparts taught using Lecture method; and there was no significant difference in the posttest achievement scores of male and female students taught with laboratory techniques. It was recommended that laboratory techniques should be encouraged for teaching chemistry practical in secondary schools.