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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.

This study explored the potency of CTCA in reducing math anxiety and promoting meaningful learning of mathematics among secondary school students. The study adopted a mixed-method (explanatory sequential) design involving a quasi-experimental design and individual in-depth interviews. Participants were drawn from two schools, purposively selected within Lagos state educational district V. Three instruments: Set Theory Achievement Test, Math Anxiety Scale and Students' Perception about CTCA Interview Guide were used to collect the quantitative and qualitative data subsequently. The experimental group (102 students) was taught using the culturo-techno-contextual approach while the control group (106 students) was taught with the traditional lecture method. Treatment lasted six weeks after which posttest and retention test (four weeks after posttest) were conducted. MANCOVA was used to analyze the quantitative data. The results obtained suggest that CTCA reduces math anxiety and enhanced learning achievement [Pillai's Trace = 0.34 (F = 53.09; p<0.01)] more effectively than the traditional teaching method. No significant gender difference was also found in the achievement of the experimental group. Students' perception about the use of CTCA was generally positive. Within the scope and limitations of the study, it was recommended that CTCA should be adopted by secondary school teachers in teaching mathematics concepts.

Background: Science educators around the world have recognised that difference in performance exists between male and female students in chemistry and there have been several efforts and interventions through research and workshops to bridge this gap. Purpose: Owing to the current growth of the effects of the use of computer simulations on students' performance in science in the literature, this study investigated if the use of computer simulation as an intervention would enhance the performance of female students relative to males in senior school chemistry in Ado-Odo-Ota, Nigeria. Sample: A total of 83 chemistry students in senior secondary year two (SS2) comprising 51 females and 32 males participated in the study. The average age of the students was 14 years. Design and method: The research design was quasi-experimental (a pre-test post-test non-equivalent group) design. The instrument used to gather data was the electrolysis and electroplating achievement test (EEPAT) which had a reliability coefficient of 0.76. The experimental group was taught with the aid of computer simulation while the control group was taught with the traditional lecture method. The data (pre-test and post-test scores) collected were analysed using ancova since the participants were not randomly assigned to the groups. Results: The study found no statistically significant difference between the performance of the male and female students [F(1,41) = 0.04; p > 0.05]. While there was a statistically significant main effect of treatment on the students' performance, the interaction effect of gender and treatment did not attain statistical significance. Conclusions: Hence, the study concluded that the use of computer simulation can help bridge the gap between male and female students' performance in chemistry and overall, boost the performance of the students. Recommendations which concern the government, school owners and chemistry teachers for the implementation of the findings of this study and further research were made.

There have been few studies on topic difficulty in the public administration curriculum of African universities. This is further problematized by non-existent literature on the relationships between gender, future career interest and country of study on student difficulty in the study of public administration. This is a gap in the public administration literature which this study attempts to fill. The work is significant to the extent that our understanding of 'where the shirt tights' regarding topics that students find difficult will guide teachers and other stakeholders in applying appropriate remedies. The purpose of the study is to find out (a) what topics in public administration students find difficult to learn; (b) if there are statistically significant relationship between gender and concept difficulty in the study of public administration in African universities; (c) if there are statistically significant relationship between student's career interest and concept difficulty in the study of public administration; and (d) if there are statistically significant relationship between country of study and concept difficulty in the study of public administration. Quantitative method was employed with sample (N = 650). The study reports bureaucracy, decentralization, public policy and politics as moderately difficult; significant relationship between gender and concept difficulty; and significant relationship between student future career interest and concept difficulty. We suggest curriculum development that would improve students' knowledge by laying more emphasis on the perceived difficult areas in the study of public administration, gender, and encourage early students' interest in public sector career choices.

Chemical safety, a practice of protecting humans and the environment in which they work and live from the deleterious effects of chemical substances, was investigated in this study in Nigerian secondary schools. Using a mixed-method survey, we investigated the awareness level and implementation of the best practices of chemical safety by 1246 senior secondary school chemistry students. Students in rural schools were found to have a lower level of awareness of chemical safety compared to the students in urban schools. Statistically significant differences were found in all except one of the awareness measures--washing hands before practicals and after leaving the chemistry lab. Urban students were more in breach of chemical safety practices than students in rural schools. Most of the observed differences were statistically significant (p < 0.001). Interview (qualitative) data from 20 students show four emerging themes to explain the findings, including a low level of chemistry laboratory resourcing, poor chemical safety training of the teachers, inadequacies in safety tools, charts, and kits, and weak enforcement of safety regulations. Based on the data from the study, recommendations were made for bolstering the awareness level of students in chemical safety and their chemical safety practices. These include the incorporation of chemical safety in the core curriculum, requiring quality assurance entities to enforce resourcing of basic safety equipment to schools, government-directed workshops on the need for chemical safety, and requiring teachers to provide chemical hazards information to students.

This paper provides glimpses of transactions in chemistry classrooms in five African countries (Burundi, Ghana, Morocco, Nigeria, and Senegal) during the COVID-19 lockdown. Members of the secondary school community in the countries including teachers, students, and school managers were unprepared for the unprecedent demand in shift from a face-to-face to an online delivery system. From a tepid, faltering start in the early days of the lockdown in Morocco, Nigeria, and Senegal, and recognizing that the end of the lockdown may not be in sight, some minuscule progress is being made in exploring virtual delivery of the chemistry curriculum. Four major challenges to online delivery of chemistry education emerged. These are a teacher capacity deficit for delivering online education, poor internet service, an erratic power supply, and severe inadequacies in infrastructure for open and distance education. Taken together along with poor teacher motivation induced by low and irregular wages, these challenges are depressants to quality chemistry teaching during the COVID-19 period. We foresee that these challenges will persist. The harsh effect of COVID-19 on the economy of all African countries is a sign that funds will be unavailable to address these challenges in the near future. A glimmer of hope can be the reprioritization of funding resources by African governments to online delivery of education, noting that blended learning will be the new normal in the coming decades.

As the world becomes increasingly rooted in all forms of inequities, so does the need to fight its causatives. This study is concerned with ensuring that science education serves to reinforce gender equity against traditional narratives. We explored the potency of culturo‐techno‐contextual approach (CTCA) in leveling the playing field while promoting meaningful learning of chemistry among male and female students. Two separate quasi‐experimental studies were conducted on two perceived difficult topics in chemistry—nuclear chemistry and electrochemistry using senior secondary school two (equivalent of grade 11 in the United States system) students (NStudy 1 = 221, NStudy 2 = 141). In each study, the experimental groups were taught using CTCA, while the control groups were taught with lecture method. The research design was explanatory and sequential with a quasi‐experimental framework. The nuclear chemistry achievement test and the electrochemistry achievement test that were used to collect data had a reliability coefficient of 0.83 and 0.76, respectively. Analysis of covariance was used to analyze the quantitative data, while the qualitative data used a thematic approach. The studies found no significant difference in the achievement (post‐posttest) of the male and female students. Within the study limits, we concluded that CTCA is a viable tool for bridging the gender difference in chemistry learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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. 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. 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. 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. 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). 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. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]