EFFECTS OF CLASS-SIZE AND GENDER ON ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE OFSECONDARY SCHOOL CHEMISTRY STUDENTS IN KADUNA STATE, NIGERIA

Abstract

This study investigated effects of Class-size and Gender on the Academic Performance of Secondary School Chemistry Students in Kaduna State, Nigeria. Quasi-experimental research design was adopted for the study. The target population was all Senior Secondary School II students offering Chemistry in Zaria Education Zone, Kaduna State, Nigeria. There were twelve secondary schools in the Zone with a total number of 2,327 students. The sample for this study was a total number of One Hundred and Fifty (150) students drawn randomly from three secondary schools in the Zone. One research question and one null hypothesis were formulated to guide the study. The instrument used for data collection was Chemistry Achievement Test (CAT). A pilot testing of the Chemistry Achievement Test (CAT) was conducted using 50 SS II students offering Chemistry Government secondary schools not part of the study area. The data obtained through CAT were subjected to statistical analysis to test the hypothesis at P≤0.05 significant level. The statistical tool used in testing the Hypothesis was One-way analysis of variance (ANOVA). The results obtained showed a significant difference between the mean scores of male subjects in the three class-size groupings (F-value cal is = 4.27, while F-value crit = 3.10 with df = 89). The findings resulting from this study suggest that small class-size grouping favored male students in chemistry learning. Results obtained also showed a significant difference between the post-test mean scores of female subjects in the three classsize groupings (F-value cal = 10.14 while F-value crit is 3.15 with df = 59 at  α = 0.000). Female subjects in small class-size achieved significantly better than those in medium and large class-sizes. It was recommended that the makers of the National Policy on Education (FME 2014) need to review class sizes and students-teacher ratio requirements since the recommended class-size of 40:1 appears to be too large for students in understanding chemistry concepts.