Effect of Gender on Senior Secondary Chemistry Students’ Achievement in Stoichiometry Using Hands-on Activities

Abstract

The study examined the effect of gender on students' achievement in stoichiometry using hands-on activities. A sample of 292 students from eight purposively selected secondary schools out of a population of 8,381 SS II students from zone C of Benue State, Nigeria was used for the study. The study adopted a quasi-experimental research design. Stoichiometry Achievement Test (SAT) was used for data collection. Reliability coefficient of 0.92 was established using Pearson correlation moment coefficient. Two research questions and two hypotheses guided the study. The research questions were answered using mean and standard deviation while the hypotheses were tested at 0.05 level of significance using Analysis of covariance (ANCOVA). The study revealed that there is no significant difference in the mean achievement scores between male and female students taught stoichiometry using hands-on activities; (F(1, 145) = 4.160, p>0.05). It also found no significant interaction effect between methods and gender on the mean achievement scores of students in stoichiometry; (F(1, 291) = 0.11, p>0.05). It was recommended among others that since hands-on activities method is not gender sensitive therefore both male and female students should be involved in hands-on activities to enhance their achievement in stoichiometry.