STUDENTS’ GENDER DIFFERENCES IN ATTITUDE AND ACHIEVEMENT IN MOLE CONCEPT IN PUBLIC AND PRIVATE SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN JOS NORTH, PLATEAU STATE

This study investigated students’ gender differences in attitude and achievement in the mole concept in public and private secondary schools in Jos North Local Government Area of Plateau State. A descriptive survey research design was adopted. The population of the study comprised all Senior Secondary School Two (SS2) Chemistry students in public and private schools within the area. A total of 426 students (229 males and 197 females) drawn from six secondary schools— three public and three private — constituted the sample. Two research instruments were used for data collection: the Mole Concept Achievement Test (MCAT), a 20-item multiple-choice test used to measure students’ achievement, and the Mole Concept Attitude Questionnaire (MCAQ), a 20 item Likert-type scale used to assess students’ attitudes toward the mole concept. Both instruments were validated by experts in Chemistry Education and Educational Measurement and Evaluation. Reliability was established using the Kuder-Richardson Formula 20 (KR-20) for MCAT, which yielded a coefficient of 0.81, and Cronbach’s Alpha for MCAQ, which yielded a coefficient of 0.87, indicating high internal consistency. Data collected were analyzed using descriptive statistics (mean and standard deviation) to answer the research questions and inferential statistics (t-test and Pearson Product Moment Correlation) to test the hypotheses at the 0.05 level of significance. The findings revealed that there was no significant difference between male and female students’ achievement in the mole concept. Similarly, there was no significant gender difference in students’ attitudes toward the mole concept. However, a positive and significant relationship was found between students’ attitude and achievement, indicating that students with positive attitudes performed better in the mole concept. Furthermore, students in private schools outperformed those in public schools both in achievement and attitude toward chemistry. It was concluded that gender does not significantly determine students’ achievement in the mole concept, but school type and attitude play crucial roles. The study recommended that teachers should adopt activity-based and gender-inclusive teaching strategies, while government and school administrators should provide adequate facilities and support systems to enhance students’ learning experiences in chemistry, particularly in abstract topics such as the mole concept.