Availability and Teachers’ Utilization of Community Resources for Teaching Senior Secondary School Chemistry

Abstract

This study aimed at identifying the available community resources and the extent of utilization of those resources for teaching senior secondary school chemistry in Nsukka Education Zone of Enugu State. The survey research design was used. One hundred and sixty (160) SSIII chemistry students and sixteen (16) chemistry teachers were drawn from sixteen schools in Nsukka Education Zone, using proportionate stratified random sampling. Six research questions and three hypotheses were formulated by the researcher to guide the study. The questionnaire was the instrument used to answer the research questions. The instrument was subjected to a reliability tests using Kuder-Richardson and Cronbach’s Alpha reliability coefficients. Data collected were analyzed using frequency, percentage, mean and standard deviation. The hypotheses were tested at 0.05 level of significance using chi-square and t-test. Results showed that above 50% of the itemized community resources are available. Results also showed that majority of the available resources are not utilized. From the results, the problems associated with the use of community resources are; teachers’ lack of knowledge of available community resources, teachers’ high teaching loads per week, lack of interest on the part of teachers, lack of sufficient time to use available community resources among others. There is no significance difference in the responses of chemistry teachers and students on availability of community resources for chemistry instruction in secondary schools. There is no significance difference in mean responses of chemistry teachers and students on utilization of community resources for chemistry instruction in secondary schools. There is a significance difference in mean responses of chemistry teachers in rural and urban areas on problems associated with the use of community resources for chemistry instruction in secondary schools in favour of rural teachers with high mean ratings. The educational implications of the study were discussed and recommendations were made based on the results. Finally, suggestions for further studies were made by the researcher.