LEARNING STYLE PREFERENCES AND SCIENCE LEARNING MOTIVATION AS CORRELATE OF ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT AMONG CHEMISTRY STUDENTS IN ANAMBRA STATE, NIGERIA.

Abstract

This study focuses on secondary school chemistry students’ learning style preferences and science learning motivation as correlate of their academic achievement. The population of the study was all SS3 chemistry students in Nnewi education zone, totaling 2011 from 49 public secondary schools in the zone. Three research questions and three hypothesis guided the study. The study adopted correlation survey research design. By means of multi-stage random sampling method, a sample of 946 SS3 chemistry students from 18 public secondary schools from the zone were selected. Two instruments were used for the study: Learning Style Preference Questionnaire (LSPQ), Science Learning Motivation Questionnaire (SLMQ) and 2020/2021 annual cumulative scores of SS3 chemistry students. The LSPQ and SLMQ were validated by experts and their reliability coefficient established at 0.85 and 0.88 respectively. The
study reveals that there is a low linear relationship between learning style preferences and academic achievement in chemistry, learning style preferences and science learning motivation significantly correlate achievement in chemistry, also motivation towards science learning has positive influence on the chemistry achievement of students. However, science learning motivation does not significantly correlate the chemistry achievement of students. The findings also reveals that gender does not significantly correlate chemistry achievement. Recommendation includes that teachers’ instructional designs should have recourse to individual differences in learning styles, thereby enhancing motivation to learn chemistry and subsequently
improving chemistry achievement.