CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1   Background of the Study

Science and technology are important tools for development and productivity in any nation.Science is a necessity for every nation that wants to maintain its independence, sovereignty, self reliance, ensure growth, and have its head held high among civilized nations. This is because science and technology provide the basic tools for industrialization and economic development in the areas of communication, transport, energy, information, pollution and waste control, among others. In Nigeria, the study of science is so great importance,that a lot of emphasis had been laid on the teaching and learning of science, as contained in the National Policy of Education (FME, 2004). This can be achieved by the inculcation in the learners the necessary scientific skills and attitudes.

The inculcation of scientific skills and attitudes in students can only be achieved through the proper teaching of various science subjects. These include Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Mathematics, Health Science, Agriculture, etc. Chemistry as one of the science subjects, when property taught, will help the students to solve personal and societal problems. Knowledge of chemistry helps to understand the world around us, why leaves changes colour in the fall, why plants are green, and what is in soap and how it cleans. The importance of chemistry as a secondary school subject can be further illustrated by the fact that a candidate must obtain a credit pass in it, for admission into any Nigerian University to study such important science-based courses as Medicine, Pharmacy, Biochemistry, Microbiology, Food technology, etc.

Despite the importance of the subject chemistry, students still perform poorly in subject. The low performance as reported in various science tests is evident in most science subjects in general. This is pointed out by the report of the registrar, joint Admission and Matriculation Board (2008) who indicated that the performance of candidates in the University Matriculation Examination (UME) over the last three years has shown a steady decline. This is an indication of low retention of what is taught and subsequently poor achievement.

The centre of science and technology culture is chemistry, because chemistry is the foundation upon which industrial growth and economic prosperity is rooted. In the same way, the question, what on earth is not chemistry? as reported in International Charter Chemistry of Nigeria (ICCON, 2008), has remained an enigma since 1998. Koku (2003) noted that chemistry and chemical technology are among the disciplines essential for national development. He further asserts that nations must on continuous basis ensure the production of required number of adequately trained and properly oriented chemists, chemical engineers, chemical laboratory technologists and technicians to assure the responsibility of creating a viable chemical industry as well as supplying the chemical manpower expertise required by other industries. According to Hill, chemistry is so inclusive that it serves as a pre-requisite to the study of all science based disciplines. No wonder the Federal Ministry of Education in the national curriculum of 2009 and in line with the National Policy on Education FRN (2004) gave prominence to science subjects like chemistry, physics, Mathematics and Computer Sciences.

Chemistry is one of the science subjects taught at the senior secondary school levels of our educational system. Chemistry teachers must employ all means and utilize effective teaching strategies to increase the interest of students in chemistry, which will subsequently improve their performance in chemistry examinations such as the senior secondary school examination (SSCE). However, to buttress the above argument, a situational report on how student have been academically performing in the SSCE especially the West African Examination Council (WAEC) will really be highlighted.

Table 1: Performance of Students in SSCE Chemistry (1998-2013) 

Source: WAEC (2013)

The report on Table 1 shows that the academic performance of students have relatively been on the average in recent times with the exception of 2010 when the credit level performance in chemistry dropped to 38.67%. The above report is a clear evidence of the fact that if, Nigeria must develop industrially, her true leaders who are presently in secondary schools should abide by scientific culture and show very good and excellent performance in their examinations which serves as pointers to their level of knowledge and skills in sciences especially in chemistry.Nevertheless, it should be noted that students in schools do not work alone, they are usually tutored by teachers who should adopt strategies and methods to best present concepts, ideas, principles, and information that will effectively enhance the understanding of their students. This of course, will in turn improve their performances. No wonder, it has been argued in the past by Ezeliora (2004) that teaching of chemistry without appropriate teaching strategies will certainly result to lack of interest and subsequent poor learning outcome during examinations. This assertion draws attention to the question; what teaching methods/strategies is/are commonly used by teachers? Researchers to this question revealed that the traditional method (Lecture method or talk-chalk methods) is the most commonly used method/strategy of teaching chemistry in our secondary schools as reported in literatures. It should be noted that the traditional method of teaching science at the secondary school level have been widely implicated or responsible for the undesirable state of science education in Nigeria (Osinubi & Okebukola 2010; Ezeliora 2004). In spite of the obvious and serious limitations of the lecture method, majority of the teachers still use the method.

Due to the above predicaments, researchers have continued to search for appropriate methods that will enable chemistry students’ gain proper understanding and application of chemistry concepts and principles. Some of such methods and strategies as reported in literatures are; problem solving, project, field trip, concept mapping, played way, discovering/inquiry method, Computer Assisted Instruction (CAI), collaborative approach and individualized learning strategies to mention but a few (Gbamanja, 1999; Alamina, 2010; Ajoku, 2003).

However, in the work the collaborative and individualized methods/strategies captured the interest of the researcher in view of the fact that not so much work have been done in this area. That is, the use of collaborative and individualized learning strategies vis-a-vis performance of students in chemistry. Consequently, a succinct presentation of the meaning of the two aforementioned strategies at this juncture becomes imperative. Thus, collaborative learning strategy is also known as cooperative learning strategy. Collaborative learning strategy is a team process where members support and rely on each other to achieve an agreed-upon goal (Barkely, Cross, & Howell-Major, 2005). Collaborative learning according to Barkely, Cross and Howell-Major is based on the view that knowledge is a social construct. And further emphasized that collaborative activities are most often based on four principles:

-            The learner or student is the primary focus of instruction.

-            Interaction and “doing” are of primary importance.

-            Working in group is an important mode of learning and

-             Structured approaches to developing solutions to real-world problems should be incorporated into learning.

Lastly, collaborative learning can occur peer-to-peer or in larger groups. On the other hand, individualized instructional strategy according to Wikipedia (2011) is a method of instruction in which content, instructional technology (such as materials) and pace of learning are based upon abilities and interests of each individualized learners. The idea of individualized instructional strategy is hinged on students completing units of work at their pace before moving on to more complex units or tasks.

Based on the above background, the researcher deems it fit to compare the effects of collaborative and individualized learning strategies on students’ academic performance in chemistry in South East, senatorial district, Rivers State.

1.2   Statement of Problem

Organic chemistry is one of the perceived difficult concept by both students and teachers in senior secondary chemistry. Experience has shown that the adequate and efficient use of the right learning and teaching strategies enhance the learning and teaching of science hence the method adopted in the learning of science particularly chemistry is essential ingredient for smooth and successful growth and development (Okebukola, 2002). In typical classroom setting, if students are involved in only passive learning, it would lead to limited knowledge retention, let alone engaging them in thinking or promoting functional understanding. Research shows that involving students directly and actively in the learning process promotes meaningful learning (Peter, Abiodun, & Jonathan, 2010).

However, a teaching-learning process which makes the learners passive and inactive directly or indirectly affects the academic performance as with the case with the traditional methods/strategies of teaching and learning. Evidence is shown in the results of students presented on table 1. This performance rate is not acceptable if Nigeria is to move forward industrially. The failure rate is indeed a problem and a course of concern to all stakeholders in the educational sector