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TEACHERS' AND STUDENTS' ATTITUDE TOWARDS CHEMISTRY IN SELECTED

SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN AKURE SOUTH LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA IN
ONDO STATE, NIGERIA

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 CHAPTER SEVEN

TEACHERS’ AND STUDENTS’ ATTITUDE TOWARDS CHEMISTRY IN

SELECTED SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN AKURE SOUTH LOCAL
GOVERNMENT AREA IN ONDO STATE, NIGERIA

By
Abulude, Francis Olawale
Science and Education Development Institute, Akure, Ondo State, Nigeria

ABSTRACT
This study is concerned with students’ attitude towards Chemistry in
selected secondary schools in Akure South Local Government Area in
Ondo State, Nigeria. Three hundred students (200 boys and 100 girls)
in their final year (Senior Secondary School) from five randomly selected
schools were involved in the study. Data were collected through the use
of a questionnaire, which was validated by a team of experts. Analysis
was done through the use of descriptive statistics. The results showed
that the students and their teachers both had a negative attitude to
Chemistry. The findings also showed the following: inadequate textbooks
for the subject, poor instructional material and government-oriented
problems which affected students’ attitudes towards the subject. Some
useful recommendations were propounded to guide and improve
students’ attitudes towards the study of Chemistry.

INTRODUCTION
Chemistry is the scientific study of the interaction of chemical substances
that are constituted of atoms or the subatomic particles: protons, electrons and
neurons. It is an integral part of the science curriculum both at the Senior
Secondary School as well as the institution. At this level, it is often called “general
Chemistry” and is an introduction to a wide variety of fundamental concepts that
enable the students to acquire tools and skills useful at the advanced levels where
Chemistry is invariably studied in any of its various sub-disciplines.
Chemistry and indeed chemists are linked to everything on earth as aptly
captured in a slogan: “What on earth is not Chemistry?” Chemistry plays a pivotal
role in engineering, sustainable economic development and growth in any nation.
Put succinctly, there is no aspect of human endeavour on natural phenomena in
which Chemistry does not feature. It features prominently in the areas of oil and
gas, agriculture, health, environment, solid minerals, textile, cosmetics water
supply and sanitation, crime detection, pulp and paper, and waste management
among others (Zuru, 2009). Chemistry is the catalyst of sustainable national
growth and development.

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 Attitudes, like academic achievement, are important outcomes of science
education in secondary school. The development of students’ positive attitudes
regarding science as a school subject is one of the major responsibilities of every
science teacher. Unfortunately, research has revealed that much of what goes on
in science classrooms is not particularly attractive to students across all ages
(Cheung, 2009).
An attitude may be defined as a predisposition to respond in a favourable
or unfavourable manner with respect to a given attitude object (Oskamp & Schulz,
2005). The focus of this paper is on school students’ attitudes towards Chemistry
(both theory and laboratory classes) taught in secondary school classrooms. Thus,
the scope of the present study was limited to Chemistry as experienced by
students in secondary school rather than out-of-school experiences obtained from
external sources such as the media, museums, field trips and friends.
Attitudes towards Chemistry or science denote interests or feelings towards
studying Chemistry or science. It is the students’ disposition towards liking or
‘disliking’ science while attitudes in science mean the scientific approach assumed
by an individual for solving problems, assessing ideas and making decisions.
Student beliefs and attitudes have the potential to either facilitate or inhibit
learning (Yara, 2009).
Many factors could contribute to a student’s attitude toward studying
science (Chemistry). Studies including Berg (2005) and Adesoji (2008), reported
that students’ positive attitudes to science correlate highly with the attitude of
Nigerian students towards the basic sciences which tend to decrease in the order,
Biology, Chemistry, Physics and Mathematics. Results were obtained by
Udousoro (2000) after using computer and text-assisted programmed instruction
and Popoola (2002) after exposing students to a self-learning device. Popoola
(2008) also reported that students’ attitudes and interests to sciences, especially
agricultural science, correlate highly with their science achievement.
Adesoji (2008) has concluded that a number of factors have been identified
as related to students’ attitude to science (Chemistry). Such factors include:
teaching methods, teacher attitude, influence of parents, gender, age, cognitive
styles of pupils, career interest, social view of science and Scientifics, social
implicating of science (Chemistry) and achievement.
The studies suggested that there is a relationship between attitude and
methods of instruction and also between attitude and achievement and that it is
possible to predict achievement from attitude scores. What is needed to
complement the results of such studies, however, is a study of the nature of the
relationship between students’ attitudes and factors related to teaching and
learning of Chemistry. Results of these types of studies are likely to broaden our
knowledge as to how we can influence students’ attitudes positively towards
Chemistry as a subject in Akure, Nigeria.

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Purpose of the Study
The purpose of the study was to investigate the attitudes of students in
Akure, South Local Government Area of Ondo State, towards the study of
Chemistry as a subject and to find out if the subject should be made compulsory
for all science students in secondary schools. The study is also designed to make
recommendations for teachers and other stakeholders on how to arouse or
improve students’ attitudes towards the subject.

Statement of the Problem

Despite the greater number of Chemistry graduates produced by our
tertiary institutions every year, there are a number of secondary schools where
Chemistry teachers are not competent in the teaching of the subject. In addition,
the attitude of the students in secondary schools towards Chemistry as a
profession is not encouraging. This makes the teaching of Chemistry ineffective
even where there are competent teachers to teach. It is on this premise that this
study is designed to investigate the attitude of students to teaching and learning
of Chemistry in secondary schools.

Research Questions
In order to investigate the attitude of students to Chemistry, the following
questions were raised:
1. What are the students’ attitudes towards Chemistry?
2. To what extent do the attitudes of the students influence their teachers’
attitude towards the subject? Or to what extent does the teachers’
attitude to the subject influence students’ attitude?
3. What are their attitudes towards problem solving as a result of
unavailability of textbooks and other instructional materials?
4. Should Chemistry be made compulsory for all science students in
secondary schools?

Scope of the Study

The study was limited to secondary schools in Akure South Local
Government of Ondo State only. Based on the time frame and financial constraints
in covering all the secondary schools in the Local Government, the study was also
limited to the students in Senior Secondary Schools (SS Class).

Significance of the Study

It is hoped that the results of the study will assist Chemistry teachers
to develop new learning experiences for the students and to reorganize these
learning experiences in ways enough to arouse the interest of the students.

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 It would be helpful if teachers were to improve on obsolete teaching
methods and use adequate, modern and relevant instructional materials and
textbooks at their disposed to the fullest.
This study may also assist the students to improve their attitude towards
the study of the subject. Finally, the government and parents would benefit from
the study of their roles as highlighted in the recommendation column.

LITERATURE REVIEW
Student Attitudes and Science Achievement
Review of relevant literature depicts varying opinions and findings on
students’ attitudes towards science and their performances. According to Yara
(2009), the attitude of students can be influenced by the attitude of the teacher and
his or her methods of teaching. He further showed in his work that teachers’
method of Mathematics teaching and his/her personality greatly accounted for
the students’ positive attitude towards the subject and that without interest and
personal effort by the students, they can hardly perform well in the subject.
Olatoye (2001) found that students’ attitude towards Chemistry has a
significant and direct effect on student achievement in the subject. Adesokan
(2002) asserted that in spite of the recognition given to Chemistry among the
science subjects, it is evident that students still show negative attitudes towards
the subject thereby teaching to prior performance and low enrolment.
Our nation needs to attract all the academically gifted female students into
the pursuit of Chemistry. There is also the need to maximize the scientific literacy
of young female students, and to achieve equity in participation in Chemistry.
Bennett, Rollnick, Green and White (2001) argued that girls and boys start off on
equal footing in Chemistry and other science subject but once Physical Science and
Mathematics become optional at the secondary school level, there is a downward
spiral of female enrollment accompanied by decrease in achievement and interest.
This implies that there are underlying factors affecting the attitudes of young
female students towards Chemistry that needs to be addressed at the high school
level (Santonimo, 2005).
To locate relevant previous student studies, computer (Internet) searches of
three databases were conducted (Barnes, Mclnerney, & Marsh, 2005; Salta &
Tzougraki, 2004). Their scope of the study was limited to Chemistry as
experienced by students in Secondary School rather than out-of-school
experiences obtained from external sources such as the media, museum, field trips,
and friends. As indicated earlier none of these nine students explored the
interaction between gender grade levels on students’ attitude towards Chemistry
lessons. A number of curriculum evaluation projects included student attitude to
Chemistry as one of the dependent variables (Adesoji & Raimi, 2004; Thompson
& Soyibo, 2002), but they are not renewed in this paper because they focused on

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the effectiveness of a curricular or instructional innovation rather than the
attitudes of males and females toward Chemistry lessons at different levels of
schooling. Also, previous studies (Lang, Wong, & Fraser, 2005) which merely used
student attitude towards Chemistry as a variable to correlate with other constructs
are not included in this review.

Gender Differences in Students’ Attitudes towards Chemistry Lessons

Trumper (2006) used 76 items to create a Chemistry Attitude Scale. The
items were placed in four categories: the study of Chemistry in high school; the
social and economic image of Chemistry; the role of Chemistry at the national-
political level; and the masculine – feminine image of Chemistry. Using the
Chemistry Attitude Scale they surveyed 300 grades 11 and 12 high school students
(16-18 years of age) in Israel. Buehl and Alenxander (2001) reported that female
students enjoyed learning Chemistry more than male students but their research
involved form 5 students only. They used a 22 Likert –type items with four
components: enjoyment, motivation, anxiety and importance of Chemistry. They
claimed that the items were obtained from published research, but no sources were
given.
Not all previous studies documented that girls had a more positive attitude
towards the study of Chemistry than boys. Salta and Tzougraki (2004), for
example, surveyed 576 high school students in Greece using an attitude scale with
four subscales: the difficulty of Chemistry courses; the interest in Chemistry
courses; the usefulness and importance of Chemistry. The interaction between of
gender and grade was not examined.
In Australia, Barnes et al. (2005) explored sex difference in enrolment
intentions expressed by 449 year-10 students’ interest in Chemistry and concluded
that males found Chemistry more interesting than females.

Changes in Students’ Attitude towards Chemistry Lessons across Grade Levels

The grade level and students’ attitudes were rarely studied by Chemistry
educators and more past studies considered science generally. Only two previous
studies examined changes in secondary school students’ attitudes toward
Chemistry lessons across grade levels. As indicated above, Barnes et al. (2005)
surveyed 33 grades 11 and 12 high school students in Israel. They found a decline
in the attitude toward the study of Chemistry when students progressed from
grade 11 to grade 12. However, how grade level interacted/interfaced /impacted
with gender was not investigated in their study.
Apart from students’ attitudes to the study of Chemistry, Abdullah (2009)
blamed “government for mass failure in Chemistry and other science subjects” (p.
26). Why? Abdullah stated that “for more than a decade now the quality of
teaching and learning in our school system had fallen, beginning from the primary

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level” (p. 26). Abdullah also stated that most teachers lack both content and
methodology. Not fewer than 50% of them are under qualified. Abdullah further
highlighted the following reasons why the government is to blame: the little
resources that are made available without the plant are subjected to very strict
corruption in the management and servicing of education. No trained or not
enough trained people for monitoring and evaluation of schools; collapsed
infrastructure, lack of instructional materials; hostility of the environment, no
laboratory training and experience, not enough professional teachers
development programmes and inadequate funding of the schools.

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
The survey research design was used because there was no manipulation
of the independent variables by the researcher. The population for this study
consisted of the SSS Students of Akure South Local Government Area of Ondo
State, Nigeria. A total of 300 students classified into gender (i.e., male and female)
were randomly selected from five secondary schools in Ondo State. The ages of
the students of the selected schools were between 15 and 18 years old.
In carrying out the study, the research employed the use of questionnaires
to collect necessary data for the study. The questionnaire contained close-ended
items which had the response format of Strongly Agree (SA), Agree (A), Disagree
(D), and Strongly Disagree (SD). The questionnaires were for the final year
students of Senior Secondary School that are randomly selected in the above
schools. The questionnaire used for this study was self-constructed. The
instrument was divided into two sections. Section A contained the bio-data of the
students while Section B consists of questions on their liking for the subject,
teachers’ attitudes, availability of textbooks and instructional materials.
The draft questionnaire was shown to colleagues and some Chemistry
teachers in some secondary schools for scrutiny and content validation to ascertain
the content’s face and construct validity.
The questionnaires were distributed in a good and smooth atmospheric
condition. Permission was sought from the school principals before the study was
conducted.
With the assistance of class and subject teachers, questionnaires were
distributed to the students. The researcher provided some vital instructions to the
participants with regard to the whole exercise. The questionnaires were collected
after completion and verification. Responses were analyzed using the Statistical
Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 15.0.

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 RESULTS
Research Question One: Do the students have positive attitudes towards
Chemistry?
As shown in Table, 1 62.3% respondents did not consider the subject as their
favourite subject, 71.3% did not intend to study Chemistry at a higher level, 72.7%
would prefer to opt out of the subject, and 73.3% believed that the subject was
difficult, while 64.3% believed that they do not understand Chemistry. From the
results obtained there is an indication that these students have a negative attitude
towards Chemistry as a subject.

Table 1
Attitudes of Students towards Chemistry
Items Yes % No %
1. Is Chemistry your favourite subject? 117 37.1 187 62.3
2. Chemistry is one of the subjects you intend studying? 86 28.7 214 71.3
3. Chemistry is needed at all in your work or course of 162 56.0 138 46
study?
4. If you have an option for Chemistry, would you opt out of 218 72.7 82 27.3
the lesson?
5. Do you believe Chemistry is difficult? 220 73.3 80 26.7
6. Do you believe that you know and understand Chemistry? 107 35.7 193 64.3

Research Question Two: Are their negative attitudes towards the study of
Chemistry as a subject affected by unavailability of textbooks and other
instructional materials?
Seventy seven percent of the participants disagreed that they do not find it
easy or understand few textbooks; 59.7% are of the opinion that the few textbooks
or instructional materials that are available are expensive or difficult to come by,
while 50% each either agreed or disagreed on the use of instructional materials to
arouse students’ interest while teaching. See Table 2.

Table 2
Negative Attitudes of Students towards the Subject
Items Yes % No %

11. At home, I find my Chemistry textbook too easy for private

studies. 69 23 231 77
27. My teacher shows good motivation during teaching-
learning process? 172 50 128 50
29. The recommended textbook is too difficult for a beginner as
it does not carry enough cooked examples and exercises
which could guide private learners. Some textbooks are too
expensive to procure. 179 40.3 121 59.7

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 Research Question Three: Are their negative attitudes a result of the
attitude of their teachers towards the subject?
As shown in Table 3, most of the teachers were not motivators, not
approachable and did not give students regular assignments. From other items, it
was also discovered that some teachers are lazy in the discharge of their duties or
too harsh on students, and some of them use obsolete teaching methods. From the
foregoing, it could be deduced that the attitude of teachers contributed to the
negative attitude of the students to the subject.
Table 3
Responses of Students to the Attitude of their Teachers
Items Yes % No %
7 Is/are your Chemistry teacher(s) highly motivating while
teaching? 186 62 114 38.0
8 Is he/she approachable? 198 66 102 34.0

9 Does he/she give you assignments regularly? 204 68 96 32.0

19 Our Chemistry teacher is too lazy to look at our notes for the 160 53.3 90 46.7
purpose of making necessary correction.
20 Our Chemistry teacher is too harsh and incompetent. 134 44.7 186 55.3

26 My teacher uses instructional materials to arouse my 172 57.3 128 42.7

interest while teaching some concepts in Chemistry.
27 My teacher shows good motivation during teaching- 140 50 104 50.0
learning process.
28 The teaching method(s) used by my teacher(s) of Chemistry 113 37.7 187 62.3
is/are obsolete.

Research Question Four: Should Chemistry be made compulsory for all

students in secondary schools?
The results showed that a larger percentage of the students did not think
that Chemistry should be made a compulsory subject. The findings also showed
that students study Chemistry because it is compulsory for science students and it
will enable them secure admissions. The participants stated that they would not
have registered for it if it were not compulsory for science students in external
examinations. In addition, 86% of the participants would prefer the subject to be
removed from the secondary school curriculum. This clearly showed that students
generally dislike Chemistry. See Table 4 for the results.

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Table 4
Students’ Response to making Chemistry a Compulsory Subject
Items Yes % No %
13. You often create time for problem solving in
Chemistry at your own volition. 118 39.3 182 60.7
14. Do you study Chemistry because it is
compulsory for science students in the
Secondary School Certificate? 200 66.7 100 33.3
15. Do you study Chemistry to enable you secure
and mission? 160 53.3 140 46.7
Do you study Chemistry to enable you secure
and mission?
17. Only very brilliant students should study 224 74.7 76 25.3
Chemistry?
22. Do you prefer any non-Chemistry subject to the 366 88.7 34 11.3
study of Chemistry?
24. If Chemistry is not a compulsory subject for
science students I would not register nor sit for 258 86.0 42 14.0
it in my school certificate.

DISCUSSION
The findings of this study showed that the negative attitudes of the students
are the function of lack of interest, erroneous beliefs that Chemistry is volatile and
poor motivation by teachers. This supports the findings of Cheung (2009) and
Cousins (2007) who suggested that students should be motivated always to put in
their best to the study of the subject. Eagly and Chaiken (2005) in their reports too,
concluded that the hatred from some science teachers especially Chemistry,
Physics and Mathematics is an offspring of negative attitude in the subject itself.
They advised students to discard the misconception that Chemistry is difficult and
volatile.
The findings of this study also corroborated the findings of Cheung (2009)
who concluded that the teachers’ background can hinder student/teacher
relationship in good academic performances in Senior Secondary School. Cheung
also stated that students can be affected by teachers’ teaching methods, ability to
arouse students’ interest towards learning a topic, poor and shabby orientation to
students on the part of the teachers when the teacher is not ready to discharge,
when teachers could not motivate their students.
The study also showed that negative attitude to the subject is influenced by
the parents’ attitudes. In the opinion of Berg (2005), this problem is attributed to

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the illiteracy idea on the part of the parents. Berg emphasised the need of the
parents to encourage their children on the choice of Chemistry as a subject.
Lastly, the study showed that teachers did not use adequate instructional
materials and students complaint about textbooks not explicit enough for their
private study. This attitude of the Chemistry teachers were not in agreement with
ideas of Lang et al. (2005) and Popoola (2008) who believed, that they should use
recent/modern and adequate instructional materials to teach their students. By
using these students’ interest would be aroused.

CONCLUSION
The results of the study revealed that right or positive attitude to Chemistry
is essential if students want to perform well in both the theory and practical
components of the subject. More efforts should be made toward improving the
factors that tend to militate against positive attitudes of the students.
The findings also showed that Chemistry teachers should motivate
students and these students should be given sound foundation on Chemistry.
Modern text books should be provided to learners and teachers. Teachers should
employ modern methods of teaching that will facilitate individualized instruction.
The results of the study also showed that the students were glaringly opposed to
Chemistry as a subject. It is believed that their feeling is a reflection of their apathy
and frustration created in part by the prevailing conditions. To effect any
meaningful change in the present situation, Chemistry teaching and learning
facilitates must be provided and/or improved in all schools.

RECOMMENDATIONS
Based on the findings, the following recommendations are made:
1. Teachers should be given the privilege to attend seminars, workshops and
conferences so that they can be conversant with the recent developments in
the teaching of Chemistry.
2. Measures must be taken to improve the quality of Chemistry teachers. This
includes more careful recruitment, improved preparation of Chemistry
teachers in training institutions, retraining programmes for young teachers
with limited experience, in-service and long vacation courses, improvement
in teachers’ salaries with special allowances for Chemistry teachers. These
could be ways by which Chemistry teaching can be made more attractive
to the teachers.
3. Teachers should involve all students in practical work as it is known that
learners learn faster when a hands-on approach is used.
4. Teachers should assist in improving the attitudes of students toward the
theory and practical components of Chemistry in order to enhance
achievement in the School Certificate Examinations.

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 5. The Government should make available the necessary instructional
material, equipment and resources, especially in the area of Chemistry.

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