CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
BACKGROUND of THE STUDY
Education, especially Science and Technical education, is the hub for the production of the needed technologists, technicians and crasmen as well as skilled artisans who are required to turn the nation’s economy around and usher in the desired technological development which is very much required for the elevation of Nigeria from a nation termed ‘consumer nation’ to a ‘producer nation’; from a ‘third world country’ to a ‘developed nation’ (Ajaja 2007:56). Acquisition of appropriate scientific and technological skills is necessary to cope with the challenge presented by the evolving needs of modern work place in our industries and the ever growing non-formal sector. Education and training systems that responds adequately to these demands will therefore, contribute to the eorts to overcome the growing unemployment and marginalization of majority of the populace. By providing access to appropriate learning experience designed to broaden skills and knowledge can increase productivity and significantly improve the fortunes of the unemployed, thereby reducing poverty and unemployment amongst our youth. (Ajayi, 2012:93) It is against this background that science education has been accorded a prime position worldwide (Okoro, 2006:67). Within the context of science education, Chemistry has been identified as a very important science subject and its importance in scientific and technological development of any nation has been widely reported. It was as a result of the recognition given to Chemistry in the development of the individual and the nation that it was made a major subject among the natural sciences and other science – related courses in Nigerian education system. It has been a pre-requisite subject for offering most science oriented courses in the tertiary institution and this calls for the need in teaching it effectively.(Ahmed, 2003:103) Chemistry can simply be defined as a branch of science concerned with the substances of which matter is composed, their investigation, properties and reactions. (Ajaki 2002:68). It is one of the cardinal or major science disciplines in the world today. Chemistry is a science discipline that has several branches, each with its own uniqueness and opportunities.
The teaching of chemistry in tertiary institutions and colleges has over a long time witnessed some constraints and hindrances (Wikipedia) Chemistry teaching is supposed to be result oriented and students centered, and this can only be achieved when students are willing and the teachers are favourably disposed, using the appropriate methods and resources in teaching the students. Students by nature are curios; they need to be actively involved in the learning process in which they are continuously equipping, testing, speculating and building their own personal construct and knowledge.(Ayeyalemi,2002:42) It is only by personalizing such knowledge that it becomes valid, meaningful and useful to them. In chemistry, students need to actively construct their own personal awareness and meaning. To substantiate the argument, Usman remarked that the brain is not a passive consumer of information and to learn with understanding, a learner must actively construct meaning of what to be learned. Despite the important position chemistry occupies in our educational system and the efforts made by researchers to enhance performance, students’ performance in chemistry and sciences in general are still low. Some of the reasons identified for this failure are laboratory inadequacy, teachers’ attitude, examination malpractice, time constraint for conduction of practice’s, non-coverage of syllabus, class size, non-professionalism and environment (Bajah 1982:89)
