ABSTRACT

This study sought to investigate the effects of think pair share instructional strategy on senior secondary school students’ achievement and retention in chemical bonding and molecular structure. The study adopted a Quasi Experimental Design. Six research questions and six hypotheses were formulated to guide the study. The hypotheses were tested at 0.05 level of significance. The population for the study was ten thousand, six hundred (10,600) SS1 secondary school students in Akwa Ibom State. Multistage sampling technique was used to select two hundred (200) SS1 chemistry students that were used for the study. Chemistry achievement test (CAT) and chemistry retention test (CRT) were developed by the researcher and used for data collection. Data collected were analyzed using mean, standard deviation and analysis of covariance (ANCOVA). The findings of the study were, that there was a significant difference between the mean achievement scores of chemistry students taught chemical bonding and molecular structure using think pair share and those taught using lecture method in favor of students in the experimental group (Think pair share instructional strategy) at 0.05 level of significance. There was a significant difference between the mean retention scores of chemistry students taught chemical bonding and molecular structure using think pair share and those taught using lecture method in favour of students in experimental group (Think pair share strategy) at 0.05 level of significance. There was no significant difference between the mean achievement scores of male and female students in chemical bonding and molecular structure when taught using think pair share. There was no significant difference between the mean retention scores of male and female students in chemical bonding and molecular structure when taught using Think Pair Share. There was no significant interaction effect of gender and teaching methods on students’ mean achievement scores in chemical bonding and molecular structure. There was no significant interaction effect of gender and teaching methods on students’ mean retention scores in chemical bonding and molecular structure. One of the implications of the findings is that Think Pair Share strategy is effective in enhancing the achievement of students in chemical bonding and molecular structure. It was recommended, among others, that Science educators should incorporate think pair share as an innovative strategy in teaching and learning aspects of chemistry, such as chemical bonding and molecular structures.