PROBLEM-SOLVING AND FISHBONE TEACHING METHOD ON STUDENTS’ ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT IN CHEMISTRY

The study was carried out to examine the effect of problem-solving and fishbone teaching methods on student academic achievement in Chemistry in senior secondary school in Mkpat Enin Local Government Area. Three research questions and three hypotheses were formulated to guide the study. The design for the study was quasi-experimental design. The population of the study comprised of all the 1400 Senior Secondary One (SS 1) Chemistry students in all the sixteen (16) public secondary schools in Mkpat Enin Local Government Area. The sample size for this study comprised of 84 Chemistry students in their intact classes from two co-educational public schools in the study area. Simple random sampling technique was used to select the two schools used in the study. The instrument used for data collection was a researcher-made Performance test tagged “Chemistry Performance Test on Concept of Allotropes of Carbon” (CPTCAC). The instrument was subjected to face and content validity. A reliability coefficient of .89 was obtained for the CPTCAC using Kuder-Richardson formula -20. Mean and standard deviation were used to answer the research questions while independent t-test was used for testing the hypotheses. The findings of this study showed that there is no significant difference in the mean performance scores of Chemistry students taught the concept of allotropes of carbon using problem-solving and fishbone teaching methods. The findings of this study also showed there is a significant difference in the mean performance scores of male and female students taught the concept of allotropes of carbon using problem-solving teaching method. The findings of this study further showed there is no significant difference in the mean performance scores of male and female students taught the concept of allotropes of carbon using fishbone teaching method. Based on the findings of the study, it was concluded that both problem solving and fishbone teaching methods enhance student academic achievement in the concept of allotropes of carbon in Chemistry in senior secondary school in Mkpat Enin Local Government Area. It was recommended among others that, Chemistry should be encouraged to use both problem-solving and fishbone teaching methods since they enhance students’ academic achievement in the concept of allotropes of carbon in Chemistry.