PRE-CLASS ACTIVITIES, AN EFFECTIVE STRATEGY FOR REDUCING STUDENTS’ LEARNING DIFFICULTIES IN CHEMISTRY CLASSROOM: IMPACT ON ACHIEVEMENT AND RETENTION

Abstract

This paper focuses on the pre-class activities as an effective strategy for reducing learning difficulties in Chemistry Classroom and its’ impact on students’ academic achievement and knowledge retention. Four research questions and four null hypotheses were used for the study. Quasi experimental research designs of pretestposttest non randomized control group was used. The sample was Ninety (90) SS2 Chemistry Students purposively drawn from two co-education schools in Ayamelum Local Government of Anambra State. The instrument used for the study was Chemistry Achievement Test (CAT) which was developed and validated for data collection. An internal consistency estimate of 0.85 was obtained using Pearson product moment correlation coefficient. The data generated from the study were analyzed using mean and standard deviation to answer the research questions, while
Z-test statistics was used to test the null hypothesis at 0.05 significant levels. Among the findings, students taught Chemistry using pre-class activities performed better than those taught with conventional method. Based on knowledge retention, pre-class activity strategy enhances better knowledge retention than conventional method. The researchers therefore recommended among others that, teachers should integrate pre-class activity and other effective strategies as possible tools while teaching.