Video-based Instruction and Pre-degree Students’ Academic Performance in Effect of Chemical Fertilizers and Pesticides on Human Health in Rivers State Nigeria

Abstract

This study investigated video-based instruction and pre-degree students’ academic performance in effect of chemical fertilizers and pesticides on human health in Rivers state Nigeria. Two research questions were answered and two null hypotheses tested at 0.05 significant level. The research design employed was quasi experimental which involved the use of pretest and posttest in two intact pre-degree chemistry classes. The population was made up of all the pre-degree chemistry students in the three universities in Rivers State. Purposive sampling technique was used to select a sample of one hundred and twenty seven (127) pre-degree chemistry students from the target population of the study. The instrument used to collect data was a teacher-made performance test named Chemistry Performance Test (CPT). The instrument consisted of twenty test items on chemical fertilizers and pesticides. CPT was validated and Kuder Richardson formula 21 (KR-21) was used to establish an internal stability of 0.83. The experimental group was taught with video-based instruction while the control group was taught same contents with chart-based instructional mode. Mean and standard deviation were used to answer the research questions while analysis of covariance was used to test the null hypotheses. The result showed that the students that were taught effect of chemical fertilizers and pesticides on human health with video-based instruction performed better than those that were taught with chart-based instruction. The result also showed that the female students that were taught effect of chemical fertilizers and   pesticides on human health with video-based instruction   performed better than their male counterpart in the same group. When subjected to statistical test, it was shown that there was a significant difference between the performance of students that were taught effect of chemical fertilizers and pesticides on human health using video-based instruction and those taught with chart-based instruction. It was also shown that there was no significant difference between the performance of the male and female students who were taught effect of chemical fertilizer on human health using video-based instruction. The study concluded that the use of video-based instruction to teach pre-degree students chemistry was more effective than the use of chart-based instruction. Based on the findings, it was recommended that chemistry teachers should use video-based instructional strategy to teach certain chemistry concepts and the male students should be encouraged to embrace learning with technology.