EFFECT OF INDIVIDUALIZED INSTRUCTION ON ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE AND INTEREST IN CHEMISTRY AMONG SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS IN KATSINA STATE, NIGERIA

Abstract

The study investigated the effect of individualized instruction on academic performance and interest in chemistry among secondary school students in Katsina State, Nigeria. Two research objectives guided the study. Two research questions were answered and two null hypotheses were tested at 0.05 level of significance. The study adopted quasi-experimental research design involving pretest posttest control group. The experimental group were taught using individualized instruction while the control group were taught using lecture method. The population of the study consisted of four thousand, two hundred and sixty eight (4,268) SS II chemistry students while the sample of the study consisted of one hundred and ninety (190) SSII chemistry students from two intact classes using two sampling techniques; cluster sampling and simple random sampling techniques. Two instruments namely; Chemistry Performance Test (CPT) and Chemistry Interest Scale (CIS) with a reliability coefficients of 0.91 and 0.82 respectively using Cronbatch alpha were used to collect data. Mean and standard deviation were used to answer the research questions while independent sample t-test and Mann-Whitney u-test were used to test hypotheses at 0.05 level of significance. Results from the study revealed that students taught using individualized instruction performed better and have more interest in the chemistry contents than students taught using lecture method. The study recommended that chemistry teachers should exposed students to student-centered and activity-based methods like the individualized instruction.