KWARA STATE CHEMISTRY TEACHERS’ ASSESSMENT OF
SELECTED TEXTBOOKS FOR TEACHING NIGERIAN SENIOR
SECONDARY SCHOOL CHEMISTRY CURRICULUM
M.Ed. INTERIM REPORT
BY
ISHOLA, Oluwakemi Habibat
05/25OC050
SUPERVISOR: Prof. A. S. Olorundare
Background to the Problem
 The Importance of textbooks in education
 Science textbooks and curriculum
 Textbooks and teachers’ methods of teaching
 Poor performance of students in science subjects
Statement of the Problem
The introduction of chemistry provides many
indigenous authors and organizations with a unique
opportunity to write books which they believe could
provide teachers, students and educators with
appropriate introductory strategies in teaching-learning
processes. This has led to availability of many books for
the subject in the market.
As the number increases, and in recognition of
ever increasing important roles textbooks play in
education. therefore, the need to choose appropriate
chemistry textbooks in line with syllabus becomes
imperative.
Purpose of the Study
Specifically, study sought to find out:
 Whether there was significant difference in the
assessment of STAN and Longman chemistry
textbooks by qualified chemistry teachers.
 Whether there was significant difference in the
assessment of STAN and Longman chemistry
textbooks by unqualified chemistry teachers.
 Whether there was significant difference in the
assessment of STAN and Longman chemistry
textbooks by experienced chemistry teachers.
 Whether there was significant difference in the
assessment of STAN and Longman chemistry
textbooks by less experienced chemistry teachers.
Research Questions
The following research questions were raised in this
study:
• Is there any significant difference in the assessment
of STAN and Longman chemistry textbooks by
qualified chemistry teachers?
• Is there any significant difference in the assessment
of STAN and Longman chemistry textbooks by
unqualified chemistry teachers?
• Is there any significant difference in the assessment
of STAN and Longman chemistry textbooks by
experienced chemistry teachers?
• Is there any significant difference in the assessment
of STAN and Longman chemistry textbooks by less
experienced chemistry teachers?
Research Hypotheses
The following hypotheses were put to text in the study:
Ho1: There is no significant difference in the assessment of
STAN and Longman chemistry textbooks by qualified
chemistry teachers.
Ho2: There is no significant difference in the assessment of
STAN and Longman chemistry textbooks by
unqualified chemistry teachers.
Ho3: There is no significant difference in the assessment of
STAN and Longman chemistry textbooks by
experienced chemistry teachers.
Ho4: There is no significant difference in the assessment of
STAN and Longman chemistry textbooks by less
experienced chemistry teachers.
Scope of the Study
• The study is limited to chemistry teachers in senior secondary schools
in Kwara state.
• The population for this study comprised of all senior secondary school
chemistry teachers in the state. Stratified random sampling technique
was employed on the basis of experience and qualification in the
selection of 141 chemistry teachers from 101 purposively selected
secondary schools across the state. The schools were selected on the
bases of the following criteria: being senior secondary school (public
and private schools), offering chemistry, presence of chemistry
teacher(s), teacher use Longman and STAN chemistry textbooks for
lessons.
• The textbooks that were assessed by the selected chemistry teachers
are:
1. Bajah, S. T., Teibo, B. O., Onwu, G., Obikwere, A. (1997, 1990 and
1992): Senior secondary chemistry textbook 1, 2 and 3. Longman
Nigeria PLC.
2.
STAN (2006, revised edition): Chemistry for senior secondary
schools. Heinemann Education Books (Nig) PLC.
Significance of the Study
The study would be beneficial to teachers, students, textbook
writers, curriculum planners and Ministry of Education.
i.
The results might sensitize teachers to see the need for assessing
textbooks and make necessary suggestions to officials from Ministry of
Education as guide in selecting textbook.
ii. The findings might be significant to the students in the selection of
‘good’ textbooks that will be in line with the syllabus so as to achieve
purpose of chemistry education.
iii. The study might keep the curriculum developers such as Nigeria
Educational Research and Development Council (NERDC) abreast of
the need for contents, materials, learning activities to be deliberately
selected and organized so as to ensure the attainment of specific
objectives of learning chemistry.
iv. The study might guide the educational service divisions of the Federal
and State ministries of education, Local Government Area officials in
charge of textbook selection in choosing more relevant chemistry
textbooks so that students’ performance in chemistry could improve.
Reviewed of Related Literature
The literature reviewed has been carried out
using the following sub-headings:
1. Objective and content of Senior Secondary School
Chemistry Curriculum in Nigeria.
2. Importance of Teachers’ Qualification in Teaching.
3. Teachers’ Teaching Experience in Education.
4. The importance of Print and Non-Print Resources in
Education.
5. The criteria for Textbooks Assessment and Selection
6. Nature and Characteristics of Chemistry Textbooks.
7. Appraisal of Reviewed Literature.
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Research Type
 Descriptive research of the survey method was
adopted in this study to describe and summarize
the data.
Sample and Sampling Techniques
 The population for this study were made up of all
secondary school chemistry teachers in Kwara State.
 Stratified random sampling technique was used to
sample 141 chemistry teachers from 101 purposively
selected secondary schools across the state.
 Qualification and year of teaching experience of the
chemistry teachers of the selected schools were used in
classifying them into: qualified, unqualified, experienced
and less experienced chemistry teachers.
 The selected teachers assessed the following selected
chemistry textbook: (1) STAN (2006, revised edition):
Chemistry for senior secondary schools. Heinemann
Education Books (Nig) PLC. (2) Bajah, S. T., Teibo, B. O.,
Onwu, G., Obikwere, A. (1997, 1990 and 1992): Senior
secndary chemistry textbook 1, 2 and 3. Longman
Nigeria PLC.
Research Instrument
 The research instrument that was used for this
research work is a researcher-designed questionnaire
prepared for teachers; it is called Chemistry Teachers’
Questionnaire (CTQ).
 The questionnaire consists of three sections: A, B and
C. Section ‘A’ was meant to collect the biographical
data of the teachers. Section ‘B’ dealt with the
textbook used in the sampled schools and section ‘C’
consists areas that will assess the readability of the
two selected textbooks base on the criteria used.
Instrument validation
 The instrument was given to three experienced
and qualified chemistry teachers at the secondary
level and lecturers (chemistry Educators) at Kwara
state College of Education, Ilorin for scrutiny.
 The final draft was later passed to the project
supervisor for final comments and suggestions
before it was produced.
 The reliability of the instrument was determined
through the administration of questionnaire twice
on 20 chemistry teachers.
 Using Pearson Product Correlation Coefficient of
the two administration, a reliability of 0.80 was
obtained
Procedure for Data Collection
 The researcher sought the official permission
and the cooperation of the school management
where teachers were involved.
 The researcher personally administered the
questionnaire.
 A two week was given and this made
respondents had enough time to respond
correctly to the statements contained in
questionnaire.
 The completed questionnaires were collected
from respondents for analysis after two weeks.
Data Analysis Technique
The data collected for this study were
analyzed using frequency count, percentages
and t-test to test the four hypotheses.
Results
Hypotheses testing
• Hypothesis 1: there is no significant difference in the assessment of STAN and
Longman chemistry textbooks by qualified chemistry teachers. The corresponding
research question to this hypothesis is research question 1.
• Research question 1: is there any significant difference in the assessment of STAN
and Longman chemistry textbooks by qualified chemistry teachers.
Table 3:
Summary of the t-test analysis of the assessment of STAN and Longman
chemistry textbooks by qualified chemistry teachers
__________________________________________________________________
Textbook N
Mean
SD
df
t.cal. t.crit. Decision
__________________________________________________________________
STAN
78
72.18
1.67
154
15.80 1.96
Reject Ho
Longman 78
66.41
1.79
__________________________________________________________________
• Hypothesis 2: there is no significant difference in the assessment of STAN
and Longman chemistry textbooks by unqualified chemistry teachers. The
corresponding research question to this hypothesis is research question 2.
• Research question 2: is there any significant difference in the assessment
of STAN and Longman chemistry textbooks by unqualified chemistry
teachers.
Table 4:
Summary of the t-test analysis of the assessment of STAN and Longman
chemistry textbooks by unqualified chemistry teachers
__________________________________________________________
Textbook
N
Mean
SD
df t.cal t-crit. Decision
__________________________________________________________
STAN
63
72.22
3.50
124 6.23 1.96 Reject Ho
Longman
63
63.33
1.96
__________________________________________________________
• Hypothesis 3: there is no significant difference in the assessment of STAN
and Longman chemistry textbooks by experienced chemistry teachers. The
corresponding research question to this hypothesis is research question 3.
• Research question 3: is there any significant difference in the assessment
of STAN and Longman chemistry textbooks by experienced chemistry
teachers.
Table 5:
Summary of the t-test analysis of the assessment of STAN and Longman
chemistry textbooks by experienced chemistry teachers
__________________________________________________________
Textbook
N Mean
SD
df
t.cal. t.crit. Decision
__________________________________________________________
STAN
78 69.56 2.82
154
2.96
1.96 Reject Ho
Longman 78 64.92 3.40
__________________________________________________________
• Hypothesis 4: there is no significant difference in the assessment of STAN
and Longman chemistry textbooks by less experienced chemistry teachers.
The corresponding research question to this hypothesis is research
question 4.
• Research question 4: is there any significant difference in the assessment
of STAN and Longman chemistry textbooks by less experienced chemistry
teachers.
Table 6:
Summary of the t-test analysis of the assessment of STAN and Longman
chemistry textbooks by less experienced chemistry teachers
___________________________________________________________
Textbook N Mean SD
df
cal.t
t.crit
Decision
___________________________________________________________
STAN
63 64.71 3.68
124 0.61
1.96 Do not Reject Ho
Longman 63 63.24 3.70
___________________________________________________________
Summary of Findings
The research findings of this study as obtained from the
analysis of t-test based on the hypotheses are summarized as
follows:
1. There was significant difference in the assessment of STAN and
Longman chemistry textbooks by qualified chemistry teachers.
However, the STAN chemistry textbook was found to be more
effective in enhancing the teaching and learning processes than
Longman chemistry textbooks.
2. There was significant difference in the assessment of STAN and
Longman chemistry textbooks by unqualified chemistry teachers.
3. There was significant difference in the assessment of STAN and
Longman chemistry textbooks experienced chemistry teachers.
4. There was no significant difference in the assessment of STAN and
Longman chemistry textbook by less experienced chemistry
teachers.
Discussion
The findings of this research work according to results of
analysis presented in table 3, 4 , 5 and 6 are as follow:
 It is revealed from the results that there is a significant difference
in the assessment of STAN and Longman chemistry textbooks by
qualified chemistry teachers.
 It was also revealed in this study that a significant difference
existed in the assessment of STAN and Longman chemistry
textbooks by unqualified chemistry teachers.
 It was found in this study that there is a significant difference in
the assessment of STAN and Longman chemistry textbooks by
experienced chemistry teachers.
 A finding of this study revealed that no significant difference
existed in the assessment of STAN and Longman chemistry
textbooks by less experienced chemistry teachers.
Despite the findings difference on the assessment of the
textbooks by the teachers, finding analysis showed that the two
textbooks are good chemistry textbooks.
Conclusion
• The study was to determine whether one or
both of the selected textbooks are appropriate
as instructional material. Looking at the mean
score of the assessment, both textbooks were
actually found to be appropriate as
instructional material for chemistry, however,
STAN chemistry textbook was found to be
better.
Recommendations
The following recommendations are made based on the
findings of this study:
1. Since both textbooks were found to be appropriate as
instructional material for senior school chemistry, they
should be made available to teachers and students by
the school authorities.
2. The authors of the Longman chemistry textbook should
revise the book to make it measure up to the STAN
textbook so that it can be more accepted by teachers
and students.
3. The Science Teachers Association of Nigeria should
revise the STAN chemistry textbook from time to time
to enable it retains its high quality and acceptability.
4. Parents are encouraged to make both textbooks
available for their wards
THANKS FOR LISTENING