Effects of Lecture, Teacher Demonstrations, Discussion and Practical Work on 10th Graders' Attitudes to Chemistry and Understanding of Electrolysis

This study investigated: (a) whether the use of the combination of lecture, teacher demonstrations, class discussion and student practical work in small groups significantly improved the experimental subjects' attitudes to chemistry and understanding of electrolysis more than their control group counterparts who were not exposed to practical work; and (b) whether there were statistically significant differences in their performance on electrolysis linked to their treatment, gender and post-test attitudes to chemistry. The sample was comprised of 138 Jamaican 10th graders in two high schools in St Catherine. The Attitudes to Chemistry Questionnaire and an Understanding of Electrolysis Test (UET) were used for data collection. The results showed that the experimental subjects' post-test attitudes to chemistry were statistically significantly better than those of their control group counterparts; the experimental groups' post-test mean scores on the multiple and structured items on the UET were statistically significantly better than those of the control groups; there was a positive, statistically significant but weak relationship between the experimental subjects' treatment and performance on the multiple and structured items, while the relationship between the control subjects' treatment and performance on both items was not significant.