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This study focused on addressing underperformance in chemistry in Anglophone West African countries. The main purpose of the study was to determine if factors such as gender, school location and ownership impact students’ perception of the difficulty of chemistry concepts and to suggest how these difficult concepts can be made easy to learn from the perspectives of the students. A mixed-methods approach was adopted. Participants were 1,292 chemistry students from nine public and 12 private secondary schools in Nigeria and Ghana with about three-quarters of the schools from urban areas. About 51% of the participants were females. Twenty-four students were interviewed to gather qualitative data. The Difficult Concept in Chemistry Questionnaire (DCCQ) and the Difficult Concepts in Chemistry Interview Guide (DCCIG) were used for data collection. The test-retest reliability coefficient of the DCCQ was 0.88. We found a slight difference in the perception of male and female students while school type came as a major determinant factor on students’ perception of difficult concepts in chemistry, just as school location. Phobia for calculations came out as a major cause of difficulty in the top five perceived difficult concepts. Findings on causes of learning difficulties were reported as well as suggestions for improvement as viewed by the students. Recommendations were made for improving the teaching and learning of chemistry in Anglophone West African schools.

Background: Studies in biology have shown that students perceive variation and evolution to be difficult areas to learn. This has sparked rote learning of variation and evolution concepts and is evidenced in poor performance in tests involving these concepts. Purpose: In light of the significant role of variation and evolution in a human's acquaintance with themselves and their environment, there is a need to ensure that students possess meaningful learning of variation and evolution rather than learning by rote. Hence, this study investigated if the use of CTCA as an intervention will enhance students' performance in variation and evolution concepts in biology. Sample: The potency of the culturo-techno-contextual approach was tried out in this study with 156 senior secondary two biology students, equivalent to (11th grade) with an average age of 14 years. Design and method: The research design was a quasi-experimental pre-test, post-test non-equivalent group design. Data on meaningful learning was collected using a 35 multiple-choice item test of Meaningful Learning in Variation and Evolution. The reliability coefficient of the instrument was, however, determined to be 0.77. Data collected were analysed using ANCOVA since the random assignment of subjects was not achieved. Results: The 76 students in the experimental group who were taught variation and evolution using CTCA performed significantly better F(1, 134) = 15.40; p < 0.0001] than their control group counterparts (N = 80). Conclusion: The data from this study support the potency of the culturo-techno-contextual approach in bringing about the learning of variation and evolution in a meaningful manner. The implications of these results for teacher education in biology are addressed in the article.

Poor performance of students in chemistry shows that they are having difficulties in learning, mastering the content, and applying what they have learned in examinations. The purpose of this study was to find out the difference in (a) retention of information by students taught nuclear chemistry using the culturo-techno-contextual approach (CTCA) and lecture; (b) retention of information by male and female students taught nuclear chemistry using CTCA, and (c) the interaction effects of gender and method on retention of information by students taught nuclear chemistry using CTCA and lecture. Learning theories of Vygotsky's constructivism theory, Ausubel's theory of meaningful learning, and CTCA's philosophical framework were adopted. This study used explanatory sequential mixed methods; quasi-experimental research design was adopted. A total of 91 senior secondary II students (SS2) (equivalent of grade 11 in the American system) participated. Split-half was used to test the reliability of the nuclear chemistry achievement test (NCAT), and a Spearman--Brown of unequal length coefficient value of 0.80 was obtained. A statistically significant difference was found in the retention of information by students taught nuclear chemistry using CTCA and lecture [F(1,88) = 263.06; p = 0.00] which was in favor of the CTCA group (experimental). A statistically significant difference was not found for gender [F(1,46) = 0.39; p = 0.53]. The statistical interaction effect of method and gender was not significant [F(1,86) = 0.25; p = 0.62]. We recommended that the use of CTCA should be adopted by chemistry teachers in secondary schools to enhance learning.