COMPARATIVE EFFECT OF SELF-PACED INSTRUCTIONAL STRATEGY AND CONVENTIONAL TEACHING METHODS ON STUDENTS' ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT IN CHEMISTRY IN SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN ONDO STATE, NIGERIA

Abstract

This study investigated the comparative effects of self-paced
instructional strategy and conventional teaching method on students'
academic achievement in Chemistry in Nigerian secondary schools.
The persistent poor performance of students in Chemistry,
particularly in examinations conducted by the West African
Examinations Council and the National Examinations Council,
necessitated the search for more effective instructional approaches.
The study adopted a quasi-experimental research design, specifically
the pretest–posttest non-equivalent control group design. The
population consisted of Senior Secondary School II (SSII) students
offering Chemistry in selected public secondary schools. A total of 88
students participated in the study, with intact classes assigned to
experimental and control groups. The experimental group was taught
using self-paced instructional strategy, while the control group was
taught using the conventional lecture method. The instrument used
for data collection was a researcher-developed Chemistry
Achievement Test (CAT), which was validated by experts and tested for reliability using the Kuder-Richardson Formula 20.Data
collected were analyzed using mean, standard deviation, and
Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA) at 0.05 level of significance. The
findings revealed that students taught using the self-paced
instructional strategy achieved significantly higher mean scores of
68.84 with standard deviation of 7.22 than those taught using the
conventional teaching method with mean scores of 54.12 with
standard deviation 6.75. The results further showed a statistically
significant difference in favour of the self-paced instructional
strategy. The study concluded that self-paced instructional strategy
is more effective than the conventional teaching method in enhancing
students' academic achievement in Chemistry. It was therefore
recommended that Chemistry teachers adopt learner-centred
instructional strategies and that curriculum planners integrate
structured self-paced modules into classroom practice in line with the
objectives of the National Policy on Education