Influence of Concept Map and Simulation-Game Instructional Strategies, Gender and School Location on Students’ Interest in Environmental Concepts in Chemistry

The study investigated the comparative effects of concept mapping and simulation-game teaching strategies on students’ interest in environmental concepts in chemistry. The quasi-experimental, pre-test, post-test, non-equivalent control group design was adopted. The sample used comprised of four hundred and sixty-seven (467) SS2 chemistry students randomly drawn from four (4) single-sex schools. The instrument for data collection was Environmental Concepts Inventory (ECI), while six research questions and six null hypotheses guided the study. Three intact classes were assigned to concept mapping, simulation-game and lecture method groups. Means, standard deviations were used to answer the research questions, while ANCOVA and Multiple Classification Analysis (MCA) using the Scheffe’s test were used to test the null hypotheses at 0.05 level of significance. Results revealed that the simulation-game teaching strategy was most effective in enhancing students’ interest than the concept-mapping strategy. Influences of gender and school location on students’ interest were both not significant. Similarly, there were no significant interaction effects of teaching strategy and gender or school location or both on students’ interest. Based on the findings, some recommendations were made