Child Abuse And The Educational Attainment Of Secondary School Students In Science Subjects

This study investigates the causes and consequences of child abuse on Secondary School students in the learning of Science subjects in Karu Local Government Area, a suburb of the FederalCapitalCity, Abuja, Nigeria. The survey sample consists of five (5) Secondary Schools across the entire study area, where students, teachers and parents opinions were sampled through the use of validated questionnaire. The results were analysed using simple frequency percentages and the c2 (Chi- Square) test. From the analysis, it is clear that child abuse has very strong psychological effects on the abused child and thus reduces his or her chances of active participation and high performance in the science lessons when compared with other students who are less abused or not abused at all. Among other factors, it was also observed that divorce, separation among spouses, infidelity, economic hardship and poverty leading to child labour, and illiteracy are responsible for most cases of child abuse in a CapitalCity suburb. Children should therefore be provided with enabling environment by both the parents, and the Government to enhance their effectiveness in Science learning Keywords: Child abuse, frequency percentages, c2 (Chi- Square) tests, Effectiveness in Science Learning JORIND Vol. 5 (2) 2007: pp. 15-1

Gender disparity and parental influence on secondary school achievement in Nasarawa state, Nigeria

This study focuses on gender inequalities and the influence of parents on their girl-child performance in science in Nasarawa State. 100 students, 60 science teachers and 140 parents participated in the study. Questionnaire, oral interview and short objective test were used to generate data for this study. Results show that the causes of backwardness of girl-child in science education are poverty, ignorance, and illiteracy of their parents, cultural and religious factors were also detected. It was also discovered that parents tend to encourage their boys to choose science subject at their senior level while the girls are advised to choose commercial or Art subjects. It was also evident that boys perform better than girls in science. The negative effect of gender disparity was observed and methods such as collaborative strategies which can increase gender-friendly environment for learning science were suggested

Effect of Problem-Based Learning Strategy on Chemistry Students’ Achievement and Interest in Mole Concept in Federal Capital Territory, Abuja

Background: The problem of students’ underachievement and negative attitude towards learning, especially difficult chemical concepts, can be attributed to some inadequacies in the teaching. Teachers’ persistent adoption of conventional instructional approaches have been observed as a major challenge to students’ proper understanding, assimilation and retention of content taught. Objectives: This study investigated the effect of Problem-Based Learning (PBL) strategy on chemistry students’ achievement and interest in Mole concept. Method: The study adopted a quasi-experimental pre-test, post-test, control group design. The population of the study comprised all Senior Secondary Two chemistry students of Karshi Zone. Two schools were randomly selected from the seven co-educational public secondary schools in the study area and one intact class was randomly selected from each of the two sampled schools. One of the schools served as the experimental group while the other as the control group. 110 students participated in the study. Mole Concept Achievement Test (MCAT) and Mole Concept Interest Scale (MCIS) were instruments used for data collection. MCAT was a 40 items multiple choice test on Mole concepts, drawn from past WAEC examination questions while MCIS was a 24-item interest scale. The instruments were validated by experts and pilot tested. A reliability coefficient of 0.96 was obtained for MCAT using Kuder-Richardson’s K-21 and 0.95 for MCIS using Cronbach Alpha. The experimental group was exposed to the treatment while the control group was taught using the conventional method. Data obtained were analyzed using mean, standard deviation and ANCOVA. Four null hypotheses were tested at 0.05 level of significance. Results: Findings revealed that students taught mole concept using PBL strategy perform better and expressed better interest than those taught using lecture method.  PBL improved the achievement of both male and female students equally but fostered more interest in male students. Conclusion: Based on the findings of this study, it is recommended that chemistry teachers should be encouraged to adopt PBL strategy in teaching Mole concept during their instructional practices Keywords: Problem Based Learning (PBL) Strategy, Achievement, Interest, Mole Concept, Gende