GENDER, LEARNING ENVIRONMENT AND SCHOOL STATUS ON CHEMISTRY ACHIEVEMENT IN SENIOR SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN ONDO STATE BY ANJORIN DEBORAH OLUWAPELUMI

ABSTRACT The study was poised to examine the impact of gender and learning environment on students’ academic achievement in chemistry in secondary schools in Ondo State. In an attempt to achieve the purpose of this study, three research questions and hypotheses were formulated for the study respectively. The study adopted Survey research design of the expost facto type with the population which covered all students who offer chemistry in the secondary schools which are located within Ondo State from which two hundred students of equal sex representation were sampled for the study. Six secondary schools across the tree political zones of the Ondo State were sampled using simple random sampling techniques. A well structured questionnaire and validated by the researchers supervisor was used as instrument to collect data from the students during the school hour while a proforma was the instrument used to enable the researchers copy results from the school past records in the respective schools through the help of the school principals. All the data collected were analyzed using mean, standard deviation, t-test and analysis of variance were used to analyse the entire variables to test the null hypotheses formulated at 95% significance level so as to accept or reject the null hypothesis for the study. The study found out that there is significant gender difference in the impact of learning environment on senior secondary school students’ chemistry achievement. The finding revealed that most male students agreed more than the female students that learning environment have impact on the academic performance in chemistry. Student’s attitude toward the learning of chemistry is a factor that has long attracted attention of researchers and that effects of class size on student learning vary by grade level, pupil characteristics, subject areas, teaching methods and other learning interventions. The study recommended among others that In-service training should be provided for Chemistry Teachers on Strategies for enhancing the learning environment of the students through improvisation for hard-to-get and expensive materials and equipment which are highly needed for learning chemistry in the school environment. Further, the chemistry teachers should be encouraged to utilize instructional materials by displaying them in the laboratory, chemistry classroom and within the school environment so that students can learn on their own effectively.