The Effect of Laboratory Teaching Method on Senior Secondary School Students’ Academic Achievement in Inorganic Chemistry

Abstract

This study investigated the effect of laboratory teaching method on the academic achievement in inorganic chemistry (acid-base titration) of senior secondary school studentsin Enugu Education Zone of Enugu State, Nigeria. The design for the study was a pre-test post-test non control group quasi-experimental design.The population for the study consists of 1,407 Senior Secondary School Two (SS2) chemistry students from twenty (20) public co-educational schools in the education zone. The instrument used for data collection was Inorganic Chemistry Achievement Test (ICAT). The statistical tools used for data analysis in the study were mean and standard deviation for research questions and Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA) for testing the null hypotheses at 0.05 significant level. The findings of this study showed that laboratory teaching method had much more effect on Chemistry students’ achievement. The study showed that males and females benefited significantly from the teaching method since it is activity oriented which made them engage in in-depth critical thinking and process skills. Chemistry teachers should therefore incorporate it into the teaching-learning process since it developed students’ scientific and practical skills motivated the students and fostered the spirit of competitiveness among them. Its effectiveness is also not limited by gender.