Effects Of Gender On Senior Secondary School Two Chemistry Students’ Achievement And Retention In Chemical Equilibrium Using Computer Animation Strategy

Abstract

This study examined the effects of gender on senior secondary school two chemistry students’ achievement and retention in chemical equilibrium using computer animation strategy (CAS). The pretest-posttest equivalent groups design was used. Three hypotheses were formulated and tested at 0.05 level of significance. Fifty students from two coeducational schools were sampled and randomly assigned into two equivalent experimental groups using students’ performance in a chemistry achievement test (CAT) and mathematics achievement test (MAT). Each group contained 25 male and female students. The students were taught chemical equilibrium using CAS and a chemical equilibrium achievement test (CEAT) consisting of 30 multiple-choice items drawn from past Senior School Certificate Examinations was used for data collection (r = 0.78). Three research questions and three hypotheses were answered and tested using mean and standard deviation and t-test (α = 0.05) respectively. The study revealed a significant difference between the mean achievement scores of male and female students taught using CAS, and a statistically significant difference between the mean retention scores of male and female students also in favour of males. The study recommended CAS for teaching male students’ chemical equilibrium and a combination of strategies for mixed classes.