EFFECT OF SCAFFOLDING INSTRUCTIONAL STRATEGY ON THE STUDENTS’ ACHIEVEMENT IN STOICHIOMETRY

Abstract

Students’ poor achievement in Chemistry over the years in both internal and external examinations in senior secondary schools has attracted a lot of concern. Researchers had attempted to address the problem by proffering teaching methods to stimulate students’ interest. However, most of the methods though useful have not succeeded in ameliorating students’ difficulty, especially in stoichiometry. Hence, the need to examine the effect of scaffolding instructional strategy on students’ achievement in stoichiometry. The study was carried out in Onitsha and Otuocha Education Zones of Anambra State. Three research questions and three hypotheses were formulated to guide the study. The study adopted quasi-experimental research design. The population of the study comprised of 5,368 SS2 Chemistry students from 45 Co-education Secondary Schools in the Zones. Simple random sampling technique was used to select six schools for the study. Sample of 313 SS2 Chemistry students was used for the study which comprised of 147 males and 166 females chemistry students. The instrument used for data collection was a validated Stoichiometry Achievement Test (SAT). The instrument was trial tested using 20 students from Aguata Educational Zone. The reliability coefficient for SAT was established at .73 using Kuder Richardson (K-R-20). The data obtained were analyzed using mean, standard deviation and Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA). Results obtained from data analysis showed that there was a significant difference in the mean achievement scores of students taught stoichiometry using scaffolding instructional strategy as against those taught using conventional method. The mean achievement scores of students taught stoichiometry using scaffolding instructional strategy (SIS) appeared to be significantly higher than those taught using conventional method. The SIS was also gender friendly. The findings of the study showed that scaffolding instructional strategy enhanced students’ achievement in stoichiometry. It was recommended that the use of scaffolding instructional strategy should be encouraged during pre-service teachers' training programs.