Perceived Difficult Topics in Chemistry in Senior Secondary School in River State, Nigeria

Abstract

The study investigated perceived difficult organic chemistry topics at the senior secondary schools’ chemistry students in Rivers State, Nigeria. Two hundred and ten SS2 students from seven public secondary schools in Obio/Akpor LGA, Rivers State, were selected randomly.  Two research questions were answered. The data was collected using a questionnaire titled Difficult Organic Chemistry Concepts Questionnaires (DOCCQ) to ascertain which Organic Chemistry topics the students perceived to have been difficult.  Two lecturers in Science Education and one lecturer in Measurement and Evaluation validated the instrument, and the reliability coefficient obtained was 0.81 using the test-retest approach.   Simple percentages were used to analyse the data collected.  Out of the seven topics, male and female students judged esters, stereochemistry, ethers, and substitution and elimination reactions to be the most difficult. It was recommended, besides other considerations, that teachers and students devote greater attention to the teaching and learning of these difficult concepts in order to alleviate their fear and improve their performance in these concepts.