EFFECTS OF ETHNO-CHEMISTRY INSTRUCTIONAL APPROACH ON SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS’ ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT AND RETENTION IN CHEMISTRY IN IDEMMILI -NORTH LOCAL GOVT. AREA, ANAMBRA STATE.

Abstract

The study investigated the effects of Ethno-Chemistry Instructional Approach (ECIA) on
Secondary School Students’ Academic Achievement and retention in Chemistry. The
quasi-experimental research design was adopted; the pretest-posttest non-equivalent
control group was used. The population of the study was 1,997 senior secondary school
year two (SS2) chemistry students in Idemmili-North Local Government Area (LGA) of
Anambra State. A sample of 113 SS 2 students was involved in the study. The instrument
for data collection was chemistry Achievement Test (CAT) validated by two experts in
science Education and one expert in measurement and evaluation. The reliability of the
instrument was established using Kuder-Richardson Formula 20 which yielded an internal
consistency reliability index of 0.81. The data obtained were analyzed using mean,
standard deviation and analysis of covariance. The findings of the study revealed among
others that there was a significant difference between the mean academic scores of the
students taught chemistry using Ethno-Chemistry instructional Approach and those
taught using conventional method in favour of Ethno-Chemistry Instructional Approach.
The finding also revealed that the students taught Chemistry using Ethno-Chemistry
Instructional Approach had significantly higher mean retention scores than those taught
using conventional method. It was recommended that workshops should be organized for
chemistry teachers by the state ministry of education on how to use Ethno-chemistry
Instructional Approach in teaching.

Keywords: Ethno-Chemistry, Achievement, Retention,