A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF TEACHING AND LEARNING, COMPETENCE, SKILLS, ON THE ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE OF SECONDARY SCHOOL  STUDENT IN CHEMISTRY

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY

There have been many investigations into the cause of the poor performance, and some results indicated shows the importance of attitude, skills, and competence in the teaching and learning of chemistry in senior secondary schools in Lagos State as a notable factor. This level of performance in senior secondary school chemistry has been a thing of worry for the stakeholders in the educational sector. There have been various investigations into the cause of the poor performance.

According to Erimosho (2020), expanding one's access to scientific education is one of the most important factors in contributing to a nation's overall growth. For instance, the advancement of science and technology has helped nations to improve and promote efficiency, self reliance, and overall well being of humankind through the invention and innovation in telecommunication, transportation, health, agriculture, and other fields; consequently, there is justification for science in the school curriculum, particularly that of chemistry. Without a shadow of a doubt, students in the senior classes of secondary education in Nigeria study physics, chemistry, and biology, while those in the junior classes study integrated science.

The goals of each of these courses, which are spelled out in detail in the curriculum, imply that there should be an emphasis placed on creating an atmosphere that is conducive to both teaching and learning at the school level. To accomplish this goal, it will be necessary to properly structure the pedagogy that teachers use and come up with ideas about how science materials, particularly those related to chemistry, can be utilized in such a way that students engage in meaningful learning while also having fun discovering the world around them. Ajayi (2022).

According to Nkemdirim (2021), the majority of chemistry instructors do not have the requisite capabilities or competence to carry out effective teaching and learning of the subject matter in their classrooms. This is the case because many schools have chemistry instructors who approach the topic in the classroom in the same manner as if they were teaching languages or any of the other art-related courses. For example, the majority of chemistry teachers do not have the necessary skills that are required for the efficient delivery of the subject in the classroom. Coupled with their negative behaviors both toward the handling of the subject and the student, this results in an inefficient delivery of the subject. The teaching and learning process in chemistry is hampered in schools, particularly at the secondary school level of our school system, mostly as a result of inadequate skills towards attitude and medium or lack of competency in the topic.

Kempa and Ayob (2019) made the observation that in order for chemistry to be taught and learned properly, it will be handled by experienced and well-trained instructors who have a substantial amount of subject-specific expertise. According to them, there have been many instances in which chemistry has been taught by individuals who either do not have an acceptable command of the subject matter or do not possess the necessary teaching expertise (methodology). They emphasized that in order to be competent and have strong ability in teaching chemistry, one has to have a good understanding of the topic as well as an effective use of the scientific teaching technique, which together make learning highly efficient and provide good outcomes. It is crucial that the topic of chemistry be handled by professionals or specialists who are knowledgeable and skilled in it because of the fact that chemistry is one of the main scientific disciplines that is taught in schools. However, in many secondary schools in Nigeria today, there are occasions in which scientific disciplines such as chemistry are not taught by people with the necessary level of expertise.

In the majority of secondary schools, students learn chemistry outside of the lab and without access to any practical equipment. Not only this, but Onwu (2020) has the opinion that the majority of chemistry teachers develop a "I-don't-care" attitude when it comes to handling the subjects in schools. For instance, the majority of them do not care to attend classes in most times, and some of the teachers who do attend classes do not teach with interest and skill. As a consequence of this, you should not instruct with interest and competence. As a consequence of this, the vast majority of students who take chemistry in secondary schools do not feel motivated to pursue the subject further into postsecondary education, where it is often required for graduation. This has resulted in the country producing a large number of scientists, particularly in the field of chemistry, which a rising nation like Nigeria need for the fast expansion and development of its industrial sector.

1.2       STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

It has been brought to our notice that our educational system does not handle the teaching of chemistry and the learning process in an acceptable way. This is something that we are very concerned about. For instance, the subject of chemistry is often taught by individuals who do not have enough knowledge of the issue, do not have the requisite talents to manipulate the subject matter, and have a negative attitude toward the subject matter. Some chemistry teachers have been instructing their students without receiving the appropriate training, which indicates that they do not have an in-depth understanding of the material they are teaching. This is not even mentioning how ineffectively they are presenting the material to their students while they are teaching it in the classroom. Erimosho (2020).

The vast majority of chemistry professors approach the subject with a variety of unfavorable attitudes, such as avoiding attending classes because they are unclear of what to teach and how to teach it. This is just one example. As a knock-on effect of these chemistry professors' incompetence, poor teaching abilities, and bad attitudes, the spill over impact is poor performance or the part of the students, as well as low interest in the topic due to a lack of desire to learn because of the poor on poor on poor on poor on poor on poor on poor on poor on poor on poor on poor on poor on poor on poor on poor on poor on poor on poor on poor on poor on poor on poor on An examination of the comparative analysis of teaching and learning, competence, and skills on the academic performance of secondary school students in chemistry has therefore been promoted as a result of the factors that were indicated above.

1.3       OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY

The main purpose of this study is to examine the  comparative analysis of teaching and learning, competence, skills, on the academic performance of secondary school  student in chemistry. The specific objective of the study include to:

1.   To find  out whether teachers competence influences the academic performance of chemistry students.

2.   To investigate whether teachers skills affects the academic performance of chemistry students

3.  To assess whether teaching and learning environment influences the academic performance of chemistry students.

4. To recommend ways of improving the academic performance in chemistry.

1.4RESEARCH QUESTIONS

The following questions have been prepared for the study:

1.  Do teachers competence influences the academic performance of chemistry students?

2.   Do teachers skills affects the academic performance of chemistry students?

3.  Does teaching and learning environment influences the academic performance of chemistry students?

4. What are the recommend ways of improving the academic performance in chemistry?

1.5       SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

The significance of the study will be relevant to the following individuals:

1.   Teachers: Teachers in school especially those in science and most especially these teaching chemistry would have enriched knowledge about the effect of teaching and learning chemistry on students academic performance in the subject. This study will enable chemistry teachers to change their perception on their approaches to the teaching of the subject in schools.

2.   Student: students would be able to benefit from the findings, and the recommendations of this study, because it will help them to have a fair knowledge of the effect of teaching chemistry on the students  in school. Beside this, students would see this study as a reference material for forever studies.

3.   The school Authorities: The school authorities would benefit from the findings and recommendations of this study because it will help them to gather some important knowledge on how to solve the problem of incompetence, lack of skill, and poor attitude in teaching and learning of chemistry in school.

4.   Researchers: Researcher would see this study as an important material to assist them in their future work. This is because this researcher’s work will add to a new body of knowledge in the academic circle.

5.   Society: Finally the society will benefit from the content of this work because it helps both the youth and adult members of the society to know the important of chemistry teaching and learning in the school system.

1.6       SCOPE OF THE STUDY

This study will find out whether teachers competence influences the academic performance of chemistry students. The study will also investigate whether teachers skills affects the academic performance of chemistry students. The study will further assess whether teaching and learning environment influences the academic performance of chemistry students. Lastly, the study will recommend ways of improving the academic performance in chemistry. Hence this study will be delimited to Ogun State.

1.7       LIMITATION OF THE STUDY

Just like any other research, unavailability of needed accurate materials on the topic under study, and inability to get data were among the constraints the researcher encountered in the cause of this study. Financial constraint was equally faced by  the researcher, in getting relevant materials  and  in printing and collation of questionnaires. Furthermore, time factor pose another constraint because the researcher have to shuttle between writing of the research and engaging in other academic work which made it uneasy for the researcher.

1.8       OPERATIONAL DEFINITION OF TERMS

Teaching and Learning: This is a process in which skills attitude and knowledge is developed in a formals school setting.

Competence: This is defined as the way of thinking or behaviour towards something or someone.

Skills: This can be defined as the ability to do or manipulate something.

Academic performance: the measurement of student achievement across various academic subjects

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