Correlates of Teachers and Students Reasons for Content Difficulties in Senior Secondary School Chemistry Syllabus

The reasons for chemistry topic difficulty as perceived by chemistry teachers and students in senior secondary schools in Ekiti state Nigeria was investigated. Descriptive Research Survey design was used for the study. Twenty senior secondary schools were purposively selected from five randomly sampled local Government area of Ekiti State. Fifty (50) chemistry teachers and four hundred and eighty chemistry students constituted the sample for the study. A seven item questionnaire of observed reasons by researchers and West African Examination Council Report of 1990 constituted the items for the instrument ranked with a four point likert scale. Four research questions with five corresponding hypothesis were raised and analyzed using percentages and t-test analysis technique. The results revealed that both teachers and students opine that poor mathematical skill (PMS) was the most prominent reason for observed chemistry difficulty among senior secondary school students in Ekiti state. Teachers and students gender has no influence on their observed reasons for chemistry difficulty. The results further showed that school location has influence on students observed reasons for chemistry difficulty. Based on the result of this study, it was recommended among others that chemistry teachers should be sensitized to retrain and be- retrained. Government should give teacher education programmes new methods and new approaches.