EFFECT OF LABORATORY INSTRUCTIONAL STRATEGIES ON STUDENTS ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE AND RETENTION IN SENIOR SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN KATSINA LOCAL GOVERNMENT, KATSINA STATE

The study investigated the effect of laboratory instructional strategies on students academic performance and retention in senior secondary school chemistry in Katsina local government, Katsina state. Three research questions were raised and three null hypotheses were formulated to guide the study. The study adopted pre-test and post-test control group design. Two hundred and seventy eight (278) Secondary school students from three secondary schools in Katsina Local Government Area were selected as research sample. Stratified sampling techniques was used to choose the three schools while simple random sampling technique was employed to assign the students into experimental and control groups. The researcher used laboratory apparatus in Titration as treatment for the experimental group. The instrument for data collection was Quantitative Analysis Achievement Tests (QAAT). The QAAT with 30 multiple choice items covering qualitative Analysis, was validated by experts in Education and chemistry departments. A reliability coefficient of 0.87 was obtained using the data collected from pilot study and analysed using Pearson Product Moment Correlation Coefficient (r). The data collected were analysed using independent samples t-test statistic. The findings of this study revealed that experimental group performed better than the control group, no statistically significant difference in the achievement of both male and female students taught using laboratory strategies, which implies that it is gender friendly. It was recommended among others, that Chemistry teachers should encourage students to develop interest in laboratory instructional strategies to enhance student’s academic achievement in Chemistry and science subjects at large.