Adekunle Ibrahim Oladejo
3 Publications in AERD
Author Publications
Export PDFCONCEPT DIFFICULTY IN SECONDARY SCHOOL CHEMISTRY – AN INTRA-PLAY OF GENDER, SCHOOL LOCATION AND SCHOOL TYPE
By Adekunle Ibrahim Oladejo
This study focused on addressing underperformance in chemistry in Anglophone West African countries. The main purpose of the study was to determine if factors such as gender, school location and ownership impact students’ perception of the difficulty of chemistry concepts and to suggest how these difficult concepts can be made easy to learn from the perspectives of the students. A mixed-methods approach was adopted. Participants were 1,292 chemistry students from nine public and 12 private secondary schools in Nigeria and Ghana with about three-quarters of the schools from urban areas. About 51% of the participants were females. Twenty-four students were interviewed to gather qualitative data. The Difficult Concept in Chemistry Questionnaire (DCCQ) and the Difficult Concepts in Chemistry Interview Guide (DCCIG) were used for data collection. The test-retest reliability coefficient of the DCCQ was 0.88. We found a slight difference in the perception of male and female students while school type came as a major determinant factor on students’ perception of difficult concepts in chemistry, just as school location. Phobia for calculations came out as a major cause of difficulty in the top five perceived difficult concepts. Findings on causes of learning difficulties were reported as well as suggestions for improvement as viewed by the students. Recommendations were made for improving the teaching and learning of chemistry in Anglophone West African schools. © Article’s contents are provided on an Attribution-Non Commercial 4.0 Creative commons International License. Readers are allowed to copy, distribute and communicate article’s contents, provided the author’s and JOTSE journal’s names are included. It must not be used for commercial purposes. To see the complete licence contents, please visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/.
Changing the Narratives of Physics-Learning in Secondary Schools: The Role of Culture, Technology, and Locational Context
By Adekunle Ibrahim Oladejo
This study is concerned with the persistent underperformance of secondary school students in Nigeria in physics. The study was conducted in two phases. Phase one was a survey of difficult concepts in physics, while phase two explored the potency of culturo-techno-contextual approach (CTCA) in breaking the barriers to meaningful learning of refractive indices, which ranked the most difficult concept in phase one of the study. A total of 1621 SS3 students from Nigeria and Ghana participated in the survey phase. The second phase employed a mixed-methods approach (quasi-experimental and interviews) with a total of 205 SS1 students. The control group was taught with the lecture method and had 96 students (54 males; 42 females), while the experimental group, taught with CTCA, had 109 students (65 females; 44 males). Both groups had a pretest and posttest using the achievement test in refractive indices; treatment lasted four weeks. Data gathered in the survey were analyzed using mean rank analysis, and refractive indices was perceived as the most difficult to learn. Phase two data were analyzed using one-way ANCOVA since intact classes were used. The result obtained showed that the experimental group performed better (mean for experimental = 15.49; control 11.97; F (1, 202) = 64.48; p < 0.01)) than the control group. Implications of the study are highlighted and the need for further studies is recommended. © 2023 by the authors.
Impact of Culturo-Techno-Contextual Approach (CTCA) on Learning Retention: A Study on Nuclear Chemistry
By Ibukunolu Adebiyi Ademola
Poor performance of students in chemistry shows that they are having difficulties in learning, mastering the content, and applying what they have learned in examinations. The purpose of this study was to find out the difference in (a) retention of information by students taught nuclear chemistry using the culturo-techno-contextual approach (CTCA) and lecture; (b) retention of information by male and female students taught nuclear chemistry using CTCA, and (c) the interaction effects of gender and method on retention of information by students taught nuclear chemistry using CTCA and lecture. Learning theories of Vygotsky's constructivism theory, Ausubel's theory of meaningful learning, and CTCA's philosophical framework were adopted. This study used explanatory sequential mixed methods; quasi-experimental research design was adopted. A total of 91 senior secondary II students (SS2) (equivalent of grade 11 in the American system) participated. Split-half was used to test the reliability of the nuclear chemistry achievement test (NCAT), and a Spearman-Brown of unequal length coefficient value of 0.80 was obtained. A statistically significant difference was found in the retention of information by students taught nuclear chemistry using CTCA and lecture [F(1,88) = 263.06; p = 0.00] which was in favor of the CTCA group (experimental). A statistically significant difference was not found for gender [F(1,46) = 0.39; p = 0.53]. The statistical interaction effect of method and gender was not significant [F(1,86) = 0.25; p = 0.62]. We recommended that the use of CTCA should be adopted by chemistry teachers in secondary schools to enhance learning. © 2023 American Chemical Society.
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