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PROBLEM
SOLVING LEARNING STRATEGY AND STUDENTS’ ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE IN STOICHIOMETRY
IN CHEMISTRY
Abstract
This study
was designed to investigate the effects of problem-solving learning strategy on
the academic performance of all secondary school students in SS2 in
stoichiometric chemistry in Uyo Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State. Three
research questions and three null hypotheses were formulated to guide the
study. A pretest posttest control group quasi-experimental design was adopted
for the study. The population size comprised of 1132 students. Random sampling
technique was used to collect data from a sample of 100 SS2 Chemistry Students
selected from two schools in Uyo Local Government Areas of Akwa Ibom State,
Nigeria. The Students in experimental group were taught using Problem-Solving
learning approach while those in control group were exposed to the conventional
lecture method. Chemistry Achievement Test (CAT) was employed. The CAT
comprised of 20 multiple choice questions. The findings were analyzed using
Mean, Standard Deviation (SD) and t-test analysis to analyze the null
hypotheses. The findings revealed that students in experimental group had the
highest performance in CAT while the students in the control group had the
least performance in the CAT. Among the recommendations made was that Secondary
School teachers who are already in service should be trained through workshops,
symposia, conferences and seminars to enhance the capacity of using
problem-solving skills.
CHAPTER ONE
1.1
Background
Chemistry is
one of the most important subject in science and therefore it is offered in the
Nigerian secondary school curriculum. A credit pass in the senior secondary
certificate examination is required to get admission into almost all basic and
applied science discipline in tertiary institutions.
Research has
shown that Nigerian students persistently perform poorly in chemistry owing to
poor problem- solving in stoichiometry (Opara, 2013; Udosoro, 2011; Badru,
2004). West African Examinations Council (WAEC) Chief Examiners, perennially
report on students’ weaknesses in chemical arithmetic, poor mathematical skills
and inability to determine mole ratio from stoichiometric equations (2007 –
2017). The field of stoichiometry involves all forms of measurements and the
calculations that relate to each other. Stoichiometry is at the heart of
chemistry since it refers to the relationship between the measured quantities
in a chemical reaction as well as the calculation which include the assumption
of the laws of definite proportions and of the conservation of matter and
energy. Stoichiometry requires that the number of atoms or molecules involved
in chemical reaction be converted into measured quantities expressible in
convenient units. Parker (1983) proposed four groups that constitute the
principle of stoichiometry.
They are:
· The law of conservation of matter
· The law of chemical combining weights
· The law of combining proportions
· The rates of reaction relationships in
a system.
Calculations
involving these principles are of great significance in engineering practice
and existing operations or designing new manufacturing particles and equipment.
A solid foundation in stoichiometry is necessary for understanding quantitative
deductions in physical chemistry.
Despite the
relevance of stoichiometry in physical chemistry studies have shown that
learners find stoichiometric calculations difficult (Evans, Yaron and
Leinhardt, 2008; Fach, de Boer and Parchmann, 2007 and Furio, Azconu and
Guisasola, 2002). Evidence of students’ misconceptions and understanding of
stoichiometry exists in literature (Gauchon and Meheut, 2007; Arasasington,
Taagepera and Potter 2004). Other researches attempted to develop
problem-solving models and instructional strategies to foster students’ success
in stoichiometry (Chandrasegran, Treagust, Waldrip and Chandrasegaran, 2009).
There is a clear relationship between students’ proficiency in mathematics and
their understanding of chemical arithmetic (Badru, 2004). Thus, it is essential
to create anxiety-free environment within a social, democratic field where
learners can fully participate in the learning process and engage one another’s
intellectual, academic and social aptitudes.
Within the
last decades, observation has shown that in spite of the various innovations
introduced into science teaching in general and chemistry in particular, the
performance of students still remains low. This is buttressed by the poor
performance of students in West African Senior Secondary Certificate
Examination (WASSCE).
Problem
solving is an application of previously acquired knowledge and skills to
achieve certain goals. Various definitions of problem-solving abound in the
literature. Every researcher and author defines it in terms of his/her own
psychological orientations. Krulik and Rudnick (as cited in Carson, 2007)
defined problem solving as the means by which a person uses previously acquired
knowledge, skills, and understanding to satisfy the demands of an unfamiliar
situation. The student must synthesize what he or she has learned, and apply it
to a new and different situation.
Behaviorists
view it in terms of association between the problem situations and ideas or
objects that may have the greatest potentials for providing the correct
solutions. The solution to a problem is seen as a matter of scanning and
association; connecting chains of conditioned responses; turning up the right
association or searching for the responses that can be associated with the problematic
situation. It is described as reproductive thinking such as drill and practice;
trial and error. Gestaltist view problem solving as an insightful or intuitive
process involving the perceptual processes of the solver. Cognitivists view
problem-solving in terms of information processing involving internal mediating
factors and refer it to the mental process that people go through to discover,
analyze and solve problems. This involves the entire discovery of the problems,
the decision to tackle the issue, and understanding the problem itself.
If the
understanding of the problem is faulty, the attempts to resolve it will also be incorrect or flawed. It is a
type of discovery learning, whose emergence depends on the structure of the
task, and may be independent of the solver’s prior knowledge. It largely
depends on the solver’s ability to discover general procedures for solving
problems of particular kinds through certain manipulations at times involving a
period of fumbling and search, and of the emergence of correct hypotheses. In
this case, the problem-solving is reflective of a process of progressive
clarification of means-ends relationships in which formulations, testing and
rejection of alternative hypotheses plays a leading role.
Carson
(2007) stated three characteristics of problem solving as
1. connecting theory and practice.
2. Problem-solving teaches creativity.
3. It also teaches transfer and application
of conceptual knowledge.
Villegas,
Castro and Guterrez (as cited in Mushtaq, 2010) also stated two characteristics
of problem-solving as
1. providing opportunity for practicing
heuristics as a valuable procedure producing added motivation due to their
potential for application and
2. Providing creativity required in using
multiple mental representations.
Problem
solving is also very important to students. It can also be said that
problem-solving is like a fun game, it stimulates the students and makes them
enthusiastic. It makes the process of teaching and learning lively. Problem
solving provides students with the chance to solidify and extend their
knowledge and also stimulate new learning (Akinsola, 2008). Problem-solving can
be concluded to be part of classroom instruction as well-developed
problem-solving skills are important for a wide variety of reasons. First, they
are important for real life. Every day both adults and children
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