Enhancing Academic Achievement and Retention in Esterification Reaction among Secondary School Chemistry Students through Cooperative Instructional Method

Abstract

In senior secondary school II in the Ahoada West Local Government Area, this study was conducted, and it therefore examined the enhancement of academic achievement and retention in esterification reaction among senior secondary school chemistry students through cooperative instructional method. The research study used a design that was close to an experiment (quasi experimental). It was the non-randomized, pretest-posttest control group, specifically. Twenty (20) SSSII Chemistry students from co-educational schools were used in a trial testing session to assess the reliability of the Chemistry achievement test CAT) and retention in a non-study area. There were twenty (20) items used. The instrument's internal consistency is guaranteed by the 0.84 instrument dependability coefficient obtained by the application of Cronbach Alpha. As a result, it was decided that the instrument would work well for the Study. One hundred fifty (150) students from two classes at fifteen senior secondary schools that were sampled took the Achievement Test (CAT). Four hypotheses and four research questions were developed, and they were tested at the 0.05 significant level. For research questions, the acquired data were examined using the mean and standard deviation, and for hypotheses analysis, inferential statistics of covariance (ANCOVA) were employed. The study's findings showed that students taught using the cooperative learning approach performed noticeably better than those taught using the traditional approach. It was suggested, among other things, that delicate subjects requiring study or peer review be taught using the cooperative teaching approach.