LABORATORY FACILITIES AS DETERMINANTS FOR SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENT'S INTEREST IN CHEMISTRY EDUCATION: A CASE STUDY OF SELECTED SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN ODEDA LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA OF OGUN STATE, NIGERIA

Abstract

The study examined the laboratory facilities as determinants for secondary school students’ x interest in chemistry education: a case study of selected secondary schools in Odeda Local Government Area of Ogun State, Nigeria. A total of 120 students were selected from two secondary schools in Odeda local government area of Ogun State, Nigeria. Descriptive and inferential statistics such as percentages, frequency counts, mean, standard deviation and t-test analysis were used for the analysis. Results showed that the mean age of the students was 15.73years, and 51.7% were female, 85.0% were from SS2 and 69.2% from public secondary school. Results show that few laboratory facilities are available for chemistry education in the selected secondary schools ( = 1.54). In addition, all the students indicated that laboratory facilities were enough in their secondary school ( x = 3.70) and they were all interested in chemistry with the level of available laboratory facilities in their school ( x = 3.98). the result obtained shows that there is significant relationship between the respondents’ gender, grade/class and age (p < 0.05) respectively. Findings shows no significant relationship (r = 0.146, P >0.05) between available laboratory facilities and the interest of secondary school students in chemistry. Lastly, result shows no significant difference (F = 3.318, t=-1.496; p=0.071) in students' interest in chemistry education between public and private secondary schools selected. The study concluded that laboratory facilities are not a determining factor for students’ interest in chemistry education in Faith Heritage College, Abeokuta and Nawair-Ud-Deen Grammar School, Obantoko, Abeokuta, Ogun state, Nigeria. It is then recommended that the teachers and educators should focus on identifying and addressing other factors that influence students' interest in chemistry, such as attitude, motivation, and learning preferences and further research should be conducted to investigate the factors that promote student interest in chemistry in the study area.