THIS PAPER IS A REPORT ON THE TOPICS WHICH LEARNERS PERCEIVE DIFFICULT IN CHEMISTRY.

1. +
THE COPPERBELT UNIVERSITY
SCHOOL OF MATHEMATICS AND NATURAL SCIENCES,
DEPARTMENT OF MATHEMATICS AND SCIENCES EDUCATION,
FINAL YEAR PROJECT REPORT,
TITLE: AN INVESTIGATION INTO THE TOPICS IN CHEMISTRY CURRICULUM
WHICH
SECONDARY SCHOOL LEARNERS PERCEIVE DIFFICULT
(A CASE OF KITWE DISTRICT)
THIS IS SUBMITTED TO THE COPPERBELT UNIVERSITY IN PARTIAL
FULLFILLMENT FOR A BACHELORS‟S DEGREE IN CHEMISTRY EDUCATION
BY
NAME: BANDA MABVUTO
STUDENT IDENTIFICATION NUMBER: 16100672
COURSE CODE: CH 400
SUPPERVISOR: MR. KAVWAYA

2. PROGRAMME: BACHELOR OF SCIENCE IN CHEMISTYRY EDUCATION
© August 2020

3. DECLARATION
I, Banda Mabvuto, do hereby declare that this project is my own and that all sources of
information which aided in completion of this project have been duly acknowledged. This
research was supervised by Mr. Kavwaya, and that it has never been previously produced or
submitted to the Copperbelt University or to any other University.
Author‟s Signatures: ……………………….. Date: ………………………..
(Banda Mavuto)
Supervisors Signature: ………………………… Date: ……………………
(Mr. Kavwaya)

4. DEDICATION
This project work is dedicated to Almighty God for his mercy, strength and ability he gave me to
carry out this research. Also this dissertation is fully dedicated to my Father Mr. Abishai Banda,
my grandfather Mr. John Ngala and my uncle Mr. Hector Ng‟uni for the financial support they
rendered. To my brother Robert and my sisters Esnai and Tiwine words cannot express the kind
of love I have for you guys, but all I have to say is that, I thank God for all of you and I will
always be proud to be called a Banda. I also dedicate this project to my supervisor Mr.Kavwaya
for your support, without you I wouldn‟t have achieved anything.

5. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
May I begin by giving my heartfelt thanks and praise to God almighty for having bestowed me
with good health and upright mind in order for me to accomplish this work. As we know that
action research is very involving and so, its successful completion cannot be done by one person.
The successful completion of this project work was as a result of infinite support from many
people. These range from my lecturers, friends and family. I wish to gladly thank all the
members of staff at Valley View Secondary School and Nkana Secondary School, for providing
a research site for me to conduct my study. I wish also to mention here my acknowledgement to
Mr. M. Kalembelembe the deputy headteacher of Nkana secondary School for his word of
guidance he gave to me the time I went to collect data. Furthermore, may I appreciate all grade
twelve learners from both schools who willingly took their time, to complete the questionnaires
within the stipulated time, otherwise without their support; this would not have been
accomplished.
At the Copperbelt University I would like to thank my supervisor Mr. Kavwaya for his guidance,
corrections and encouragement throughout the period I spent writing this report. I also want to
thank all my lecturers; Mr Daka, Dr. Tanweer, Prof. Sighn, Dr. Sampa Dr. Banda Mr. Nkhata
and Mr. Lunjebe for their dedication in shaping my life academically and socially.

6. I would like also to appreciate my family for the financial support, my grandfather John Ngala,
my uncle Mr. Hector Ng‟uni, my father MR. Abishai Banda my siblings; Robert, Esnai and
Tiwine. These people have supported and encouraged me both spiritually and financially. I pray
that God in His infinite mercy grant them long life and sound health to reap the fruit of their
labour. I would also like to thank my friends; Ndabazake Chima, Sarah Kaluba, Marthar Banda,
Stephanie Mwamba, Geoge Phiri, Chris Kumatongo, Michael Phiri, Mathews Mwale, Edward
Sakala and Edward Kasongo for their encouragements and assistance in information necessary
for this report.

7. ABSTRACT
One aspect common in every culture is the decreasing number of students studying chemistry.
What are the barriers that prevent students from learning chemistry? This research work was
carried out to identify topics the students perceive difficult in senior secondary school chemistry
curriculum in Kitwe District. The research was a case study survey designed to identify topics in
Chemistry which secondary school students perceived difficult to understand and what causes
the students/learners to perceive such topics as difficult. Some research questions were generated
to guide the study. The instrument used for the data collection was a questionnaire designed by
the researchers to elicit information from the students. The questionnaire was administered to
thirty six (36) grade twelve students who were randomly selected from two selected schools. The
selected secondary schools were; Valley View and Nkana Secondary School. The collected data

8. were analyzed using excel. In order to identify the topics perceived difficult by learners and the
reasons for the difficult perceived, the data were subjected to mean statistics and converted into
percentages. The findings revealed that secondary school learners perceive that some topics in
chemistry curriculum are difficult. The perceived difficulties were as a result of; chemistry
syllabus being too wide, perception of Chemistry as being too abstract, the subject involves too
many calculations, laboratories are not well equipped and some learners are not motivated to
learn chemistry by their teachers. Based on the findings, it was recommended that Curriculum
planners should look into the Curriculum and make provisions for more practical and
illustrations of different concepts in Chemistry and teachers who are qualified and practical
oriented must be posted in secondary schools.

9. TABLE OF CONTENTS
DECLARATION ....................................................................................................................................3
DEDICATION........................................................................................................................................4
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT .......................................................................................................................5
ABSTRACT............................................................................................................................................7
TABLE OF CONTENTS.........................................................................................................................9
CHAPTER 1 .........................................................................................................................................11
Introduction...........................................................................................................................................11
1. 0 Overview....................................................................................................................................11
1.1 Background .................................................................................................................................11
1.2 Problem statement .......................................................................................................................13
1.3 Purpose of the study.....................................................................................................................14
1.4 Research objectives......................................................................................................................14
1.5 Research questions.......................................................................................................................14
1.6 Significance of the study..............................................................................................................14
1.7 Operational definitions.................................................................................................................15
1.8 limitations of the study.................................................................................................................15
1.9 Summary .....................................................................................................................................15
CHAPTER 2 .........................................................................................................................................16
Literature review ...................................................................................................................................16
2.0 Overview.....................................................................................................................................16
2.1 What other researchers have done ................................................................................................16
2.2 Summary .....................................................................................................................................18

10. CHAPER 3: METHODOLOGY............................................................................................................19
3.0 Overview.....................................................................................................................................19
3.1 Research design...........................................................................................................................19
3.2 target population..........................................................................................................................19
3.3 The sample study and sampling technique....................................................................................20
3.4 Research instruments ...................................................................................................................20
3.4.1 Validation of instrument............................................................................................................21
3.5 Data collection.............................................................................................................................21
3.6 Data analysis................................................................................................................................21
3.7 Summary .....................................................................................................................................21
CHAPTER 4: DATA PRESENTATION AND ANALYSIS ..................................................................22
4.0: Introduction................................................................................................................................22
4.1 data analysis ................................................................................................................................23
4.2 Findings from Nkana Secondary School...................................................................................24
4.2.1 Research question one; what topic (s) in chemistry curriculum do secondary school learners
perceive difficult?..................................................................................................................................24
4.2.2 Research question two; what are the causes of difficulties experienced by learners? ......................26
4.3 Findings from Valley View Secondary School .............................................................................29
4.3.1 Research question one; what topic (s) in chemistry curriculum do secondary school learners
perceive difficult?..................................................................................................................................29
4.3.2 Research question number two; what are the causes of difficulties experienced by learners?..........32
4.4 Summary.........................................................................................................................................35
CHAPTER 5: SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS........................................36
5.0 overview..........................................................................................................................................36
5.1 Summary.........................................................................................................................................36
5.2 conclusion .......................................................................................................................................38
5.3 Recommendations........................................................................................................................40
REFERENCES......................................................................................................................................43
APPENDICES ......................................................................................................................................47
APPENDIX 1: LEARNERS‟ QUESTIONNAIRE .................................................................................47
APPENDIX II: THE LETTER FOR DATA COLLECTION..................................................................52
APENDIX III: PICTURES OF LEARNERS DURING DATA COLLECTION .................................53

11. CHAPTER 1
Introduction
1. 0 Overview
This chapter attempts to present information with regards to; research background, problem
statement, purpose of the study and study objectives. In addition, research questions, significance
of the study, operational definitions as well as prospective limitations will be presented in this
chapter.
1.1 Background
Chemistry is the study of matter, its properties, how and why substances combine or separate to
form other substances, and how substances interact with energy (Bagley, 2017). Understanding
basic chemistry concepts is important for almost every profession. In short chemistry is part of

12. everything in our lives because even our bodies are made of matter. Chemistry is one of the
science subjects students are taught in secondary schools to prepare them for science based
courses at tertiary level and if not properly handled, it may affect their performance at higher
level. The study of chemistry is not only for preparing secondary school students, but it also has
significant impacts on; for example food supply, Mary Bagley (2017) added that the study of
chemistry provide the world with chemical fertilizers such as: calcium sulfate, sodium nitrate and
ammonium sulfate. Chemistry helps us understand how items around us are made e. g cooking
gas. In our daily lives, we fall sick and consequently need drugs which are made by scientists
through chemistry. This helps to know what drugs to take by showing their contents and their
impacts on our bodies. (J.J, 1991). In a nutshell, the importance of chemistry is that it explains
the world around us. In agreement to this Chibuye, (2016) stressed that, because of the critical
role of chemistry in social and economical life of a nation, the teaching of chemistry should be
done in such a way that students have a deep understanding and thinking of it. But despite the
importance of foundation of chemistry, most learners emerge from secondary schools with little
understanding of the subject.
Chemistry has been regarded as a difficult science subject by many researchers, teachers and
science educators because of abstract nature of many chemical concepts, calculations, teaching
styles applied in class, lack of teaching aids and difficult language of chemistry. Helmenstine,
(2019) stated that, chemistry is difficult because of the following: (a) chemistry requires
mathematics knowledge, so learners find it difficult because they learn mathematics and
chemistry at the same time, (b) chemistry is not just in classroom; one has to attend classes plus
labs, so learners think it‟s time consuming subject, (c) its own language; for one to understand
chemistry, has to be conversant with chemistry language, also one needs to learn about 118
elements which consists of complicated names and writing of chemical equations and (d)
because chemistry is a vast discipline; you don‟t just learn basics and build on them, but switch
ideas. This has brought the problem of students failing chemistry in secondary schools at an
alarming rate for years now. The tremendous increase in student‟s failure is seen in 2014
Examination Performance Report (EPR) of Examination Council of Zambia, reported generally
poor performance in chemistry 5070 examination. As it has already been stated that there are so
many factors which can lead into poor performance of students in chemistry, learners attitude
toward the subject is one of them. Steiner, (1984) pointed out that student‟s achievements in

13. chemistry are related to their perception and attitude toward the subject. However many studies
have revealed that students failure in chemistry is as a results of; lack of qualified teachers, lack
of teaching materials, lack of motivation etc.
Though many researchers, teachers and science educators have contributed their ideas as to why
students in secondary schools fail chemistry, this problem is still increasing in Zambia.
Therefore, it would be novel and quite interesting idea to investigate and find out from students
themselves on the topics they perceive to be difficult in chemistry curriculum, whether the
curriculum is difficult on them or not.
1.2 Problem statement
Many students from secondary schools to universities in many countries struggle to learn
chemistry and many do not succeed. Research has shown that many do not fully understand
fundamental chemistry concepts. Studies have unveiled that students‟ underperformance in
chemistry at tertiary level is due to poor background of chemistry from secondary schools, that
students find chemistry concepts tangled and that they do not want to put in efforts themselves,
rather they believe in spoon feeding by their teachers (Mahajan, 2005). In the same lain, F
Kapata, & Mbetwa, (2016) stressed that, performance of students in mathematics and science
among secondary schools in Zambia has remained pathetic for many years. Indeed poor
performance in Mathematics , English and Science has been observed, for instance according to
2014 Examination Council of Zambia report, it was observed that; in mathematics, science, and
biology only 9.98 percent candidates obtained credits or better, while 18.59 of the candidates
obtained a pass and 71.72 percent of the candidate failed the examination. Failure is so
frustrating that it causes parents to lose interest in supporting their children academically. Aremu
(200) stressed that, academic failure is not only frustrating to students and parents, its effects are
equally grave on the society in terms of death of man power in all spheres of economy and
politics. Therefore it was necessary to find out from students themselves if there are topics which
they perceive to be difficult in chemistry.

14. 1.3 Purpose of the study
The purpose of this study was to find out from learners themselves the topics they perceive to be
difficult in secondary school chemistry curriculum and what causes them to think such topics are
difficult.
1.4 Research objectives
According to Saunders, Lewis, and Thornhill (2007) objectives articulate evidence of the
researcher‟s refined sense of purpose and direction of the research with greater specificity of
what will be measured. This study was designed to achieve the following objectives:
 To identify topics in secondary school chemistry syllabus that learners perceive to be
difficult
 To find out the reasons learners perceive those topics difficult
1.5 Research questions
1. What topic (s) in chemistry do secondary school learners perceive to be difficult?
2. What are the causes of difficulties experienced by learners?
1.6 Significance of the study
There are number of reasons why this study is significant. Firstly the findings of this study are
likely to influence teachers of science (chemistry and learners in their perception and attitudes
toward chemistry. Once topics which learners perceive difficult are determined, teachers of
chemistry will be able to find the best methods of handling such topics. It will also enable
teachers to give more time to such topics when they are scheming and preparing lessons. Many
grade twelve school leavers when they go to the universities and colleges, they avoid taking
chemistry related courses because of their perceptions and attitudes toward the subject. They
forget that the learning and understanding of chemistry depend fully on learner‟s self-efficacy.
Lastly, the results could be used by the Ministry of Education (MOE) in policy making and by
the Curriculum Development Centre (CDC) for assessment and evaluation purposes. The
outcomes will also assist the Curriculum Development Office (CDO) to put more emphasis on
topics which learners perceive to be difficult. The findings will also help the schemes of works
planners to give more time to the topics perceived difficult such as stoichiometry, redox
reactions organic chemistry chemical equations and acids bases and salts.

15. 1.7 Operational definitions
Perception: the ability to see, hear or become aware of something through the senses.
Self-efficacy: self-efficacy refers to an individuals‟ belief in his or her capacity to execute
behaviors necessary to produce specific performance attainment (Bandura, 1977)
ECZ: Examination Council of Zambia
CDC: Curriculum Development Centre
MOE: Ministry of Education
CDO: Curriculum Development Office
EPR: Examination Performance Report
1.8 limitations of the study
Limitations can be defined as the influences which the researcher cannot control. This study has
potential limitations. The following are some of the limitations of this study; firstly this study
was limited to Kitwe district into some few selected schools therefore, the results may not be
generalizable. Secondly financial limitations; schools in Kitwe are isolated, thus the researcher
suffered transport and food expenses. Initially, the researcher had planned to use as many schools
as possible, but however, in some targeted schools, the researcher was not allowed to collect data
due to Covid-19 pandemic. Some of these schools are; Parklands Secondary School, Matete
Secondary School and Mpelembe Secondary School. Last but not the least; the researcher is not
conversant with the local language used in Kitwe District which is „Bemba‟. This was a
challenge during data collection when some respondents needed clarity in their local language.
1.9 Summary
In summary, this chapter has presented information with regard to research background, problem
statement, purpose of the study, study objectives, research questions, significance of the study,
operational definitions as well as the prospective study limitations.

16. CHAPTER 2
Literature review
2.0 Overview
In this chapter, the researcher intended to asses and analyze various types of researches that have
been done in relation to the current study, the chapter described what other researchers and
scholars have done in regarding to the topics that secondary school learners perceive to be
difficult in chemistry and the reasons why pupils perceive such topics like that, the identified
difficult topics were stated in this chapter. Finally these findings were summarized.
2.1 What other researchers have done
Research has revealed that chemistry is the subject which every secondary school learner must
learn with a deep understanding. Helmenstine, (2019) pointed out that, „‟chemistry helps you to
understand the world around you” some researchers explain that chemistry plays a critical role in
the social and economical life of a nation. Therefore the teaching of chemistry should be done in
such a way that learners have a deep understanding and liking of it (Chibuye, 2016). The
researcher totally agrees with the above statements because chemistry is very important in our
daily lives for it helps us to understand; medicine, production of fertilizers, pollution and how to
prevent it. Despite all this importance chemistry has, the failure rate of chemistry worldwide is
very high. Many researches have been done to determine the reasons that lead to the high failure
rate of chemistry by secondary school pupils. The poor performance of pupils in chemistry is an

17. indication that they have difficulties in learning and mastering the contents and applying them
during examination. Uzezi, (2017) Conducted a research to identify concepts perceived as
difficult by chemistry students in Jalingo Metropolis. Their study revealed that there was a
significant influence of gender, school nature and school location on the students concepts
perceived as difficult in chemistry. They identified a quiet number of topics that learners
perceived as difficult and recommended that more time should be allocated to chemistry for
effective teaching of the identified difficult topics. Their study is in related to the current study
which is aimed at identifying the topics that secondary school learners perceive to be difficult in
chemistry and what make learners to perceive those topics difficult. Auwal et al, (2017) went
further to state that; the chemistry syllabus was too wide and involves too many calculations,
student‟s perception of chemistry as being too abstract and lack of qualified teachers of
chemistry are some of the reasons why pupils perceive some topics to be difficult. However the
last statement does not agree with what was seen 2017 Zambia report which said “starting from
2012, the Zambian government trains over one thousand and four hundred teachers of
mathematics and science”. This shows that there are so many qualified teachers in Zambia.
However, most teachers are in teaching by mistake. The researcher‟s view is in agreement with
the study conducted by Lawrence & Abraham, (2011) where they said, “most teachers are in
teaching professional not by choice”. In their findings, they interviewed a number of teachers
concerning how they feel about their job some teachers responded as follows: “we have not
gotten a better job” another responded like “I have been in the service for many years but I feel I
am not working yet”. This shows how incompetent some teachers are, it also implies that these
teachers cannot identify the topics that are difficult to pupils and help them. So teacher‟s
attitudes toward their job have a great impact on learner‟s perception. The findings of Auwal et
al, (2017) are in agreement with the study conducted by Sheham, (2010) which was aimed at
identifying the topics that Irish pupils perceive to be difficult in chemistry. Her findings revealed
a number of topics which secondary schools pupils perceived difficult some of them are: organic
reactions, chemical equilibrium, mole concepts and all topics which involve mathematics
learners perceived them difficulty. She further stated that “pupils‟ ability in mathematics has a
great impact on their perception toward some chemistry topics”. She also added that most of
pupils in secondary schools have not yet reached the formal operational stage of cognitive
development. Mekonnen & Tilahun, (2016) conducted a similar study in Ethiopia which aimed

18. at identifying common difficulties experienced by grade twelve in learning chemistry where they
discovered that; chemical bonding, chemical equations, matter, thermodynamics are some of the
topics which challenge learners. Their findings also revealed that the main factors contributed to
the learning difficulties were: lack of teaching and learning resources lack of proper laboratories
and lack of good teaching strategies by teachers.
Literatures have shown many studies related to the current study have been conducted in many
countries like Nigeria, Ethiopia, etc. however, we have seen from the literature review that
nothing much has been done in Zambia. Therefore, it was import that this study be conducted so
as to identify topics which learners in Zambian secondary schools perceive to be difficult in
chemistry.
2.2 Summary
This chapter has presented information with regard to various types of researches that have been
done by different researchers and scholars which are related to the current study. The
information presented in this chapter is from both published and unpublished sources.

19. CHAPER 3: METHODOLOGY
3.0 Overview
This chapter intends to present information with regards to: research design, target population,
the study sample, sampling technique, research instrument, data collection, and data analysis.
Finally the reference list will also be presented in this chapter.
3.1 Research design
This study was a case study survey designed to identify topics in chemistry curriculum which
secondary school learners perceive to be difficult in Kitwe district of Copperbelt province
Zambia. A case study survey is a research design in which a survey is administered to a case
either a small sample or entire population of individuals to describe an aspect or characteristics
of that population (Rosemary and Uchegbu, 2016). Kerlinger (1979) added that, a survey gather
data at a particular point in time with the intention of describing the nature of existing conditions.
Since it is a descriptive survey method, the researcher used two questionnaires, one for the
learners and the other one for the teachers to collect data from the respondent on the topics that
learners perceive to be difficult in chemistry. The study was carried out with one government
school and one private school namely: Valley view secondary school and Nkana Secondary
School respectively.
3.2 target population
Target population refers to all participants of theoretical interest to the researcher and to which
he/she would like to generalize the results. The target population of this study was all secondary
schools located in Kitwe District. Kitwe is the heart of Copperbelt province which has over
twenty secondary schools. The following are some of the secondary schools located in Kitwe

20. district: Lecwe secondary school, Helen Kaunda girls‟ secondary school, Mitato secondary
school, kamitondo secondary school, Kitwe boys‟ secondary school, Mpelembe secondary
school, highland secondary school, Elim School, Mukuba secondary school, Nkana secondary
school, Matete secondary school, Bulangamulilo secondary schoo, to mention just a few.
3.3 The sample study and sampling technique
For the purpose of this study, two secondary schools were selected a few selected within Kitwe
district. Both selected are co-educational (i.e. mixed boys and girls). The selected schools were;
Valley view and Nkana Secondary School. At Valley View Secondary School, the researcher
was given access to only ten (10) pupils due to Covid-19 measures imposed by the school
administration. Therefore, ten grade twelve pupils; five female and five male were selected
randomly at Valley View Secondary School, and twenty six (26) grade twelve pupils; fourteen
(14) male and twelve (12) female were also selected randomly at Nkana Secondary School. For
the purpose of this study, the researcher concentrated on grade twelve learners because they have
covered much of the topics in chemistry syllabus. The survey was used in form of questionnaires
which were administered to the selected learners.
3.4 Research instruments
The instrument used in this study was questionnaire which targeted learners. The questionnaire
consisted of three sections, „A‟, „B‟ and „C‟. Section „A‟ comprised of bio-data information such
as: name of the school, nature of the school (i.e, single-sex or co-educational), location of the
school (i.e. rural or urban), gender of the respondent, and the class of the respondent. While
section „B‟ comprises of the topics; this section was meant to explore the topics which pupils
perceived difficult in chemistry syllabus. These questions assess comprehension and application
levels on blooms taxonomy of educational objective domain (Thompson and Soyibo, 2002). As
suggested by Soyibo (1995), for test items to measure students‟ understanding of science
concepts, they must test beyond the comprehension level on Bloom taxonomy. And section „C‟
dealt with questionnaire items measuring the reasons for the perceived difficulties. The four (4)
Likert scale type was used and scored as follows: Not Difficult (ND), Slightly Difficult (SD),
Difficult (D) and Very Difficult (VD) for the topics and Strongly Disagreed (SD), Disagreed (D),
Agreed (A) and strongly Agreed (SA) for the causes of difficulty. A likert scale was adopted as it

21. is a good way of writing close-ended questionnaire items to measure individual attitudes and
opinions with intensity scales (Nardi 2003).
3.4.1 Validation of instrument
The face and content validity of the instrument was obtained through the expert who was the
Science Head of Department (H.O.D) of Nkana Secondary School.
3.5 Data collection
The researcher made sure that all instruments were available in time. The researcher obtained
permission from the authorities of the sampled schools before the administration of the
instruments (questionnaires). The researcher guided learners on how to complete section „A‟
(bio-data section) of the questionnaire, while section „B‟ and „C‟ part of the questionnaire were
left for learners to complete based on their perception of the difficult topics. Students were given
thirty minutes to fill the questionnaire after that all completed questionnaires were collected by
the researcher. This approach ensured maximum return of copies of the questionnaire forms.
3.6 Data analysis
The collected data from the selected schools were analyzed through the use of statistical software
called excel. And all the responses were summarized in the frequency tables and bar charts while
other forms of the data were analyzed manually. The frequencies were converted into percentage
for the purpose of description and to answer the research questions. The data from each selected
school were analyzed separately.
3.7 Summary
This chapter has presented information with regards to research methodology which includes:
research design, target population, study sample, sampling techniques, research instruments, data
collection and data analysis.

22. CHAPTER 4: DATA PRESENTATION AND ANALYSIS
4.0: Introduction
This chapter attempts to present the results and findings of this study. It is one of the most
important chapters as it reveals the purpose of the study and answers the questions of the
research. The chapter focuses only on the interpretation of the data collected and discussion of
the findings. The data collected from the samples were carefully analyzed, interpreted and
presented. And finally the findings were made from the study.
A total of forty (40) copies of questionnaire were made and administered. Out of 40 copies, four
(4) copies were incorrectly filled and were therefore, discarded by the researcher. However,
thirty six (36) copies were correctly and properly completed and were collected. The (36) duly
collected copies of the questionnaire, gave a return rate of (90%) of the total number (40). Since
the study was a descriptive and the data was qualitative, simple statistical tools have been
employed for the purpose of data analysis.
The collected data was analyzed using excel and organized in simple tables, scores were
converted into percentages for easy interpretation, and summarized in the bar charts. The data

23. was collected from two different schools and it was analyzed separately as earlier stated in the
previous chapter. The findings are hereby presented according to research questions.
4.1 data analysis
Table 1: (socio-demographic characteristics of respondents)
GENDER
Male 19 53%
Female 17 47%
TOTAL 36 100%
SCHOOL
Nkana Secondary School. 26 72.22%
Valley View Secondary school 10 27.78%
TOTAL 36 100%
Figer1: a bar chart showing % of gender of the respondents.
All of the participants were in the range of fourteen to twenty (14-20) years. This tells us that
most of the respondents were adolescents. A total of nineteen (19) respondents were male this
number is (53%) of the total respondents. While a total of seventeen (17) were female
respondents, this gives us (47%) of female participants. The sum of male and female gives us the
overall total number of respondents of (36). Out of (36) respondents, 26 (72.22%) were from
Nkana Secondary School and 10 (27.78%) came from Valley View Secondary School. the low
number of respondents from Valley View Secondary School was as a results of Covid-19
measures imposed by the school management where the researcher was only allowed to interact

24. with not more than ten (10) learners. The selected number of respondents from Nkana Secondary
School was thirty (30), but due to incomplete filling of some questionnaire (4) which could not
be used for analysis, the number reduced to (26). Four questionnaires were discarded.
The main findings from each school were presented separately as follows:
4.2 Findings from Nkana Secondary School
4.2.1 Research question one; what topic (s) in chemistry curriculum do
secondary school learners perceive difficult?
The following table and figure were prepared to answer the above research question.
S/N topics VD
(%)
D
(%)
SD
(%)
ND
(%)
REMAR
K
1 Particulate nature of matter. 0 12 4 85 Easy
2 Experimental techniques. 0 4 15 81 Easy
3 Atoms, elements, molecules and
compounds.
0 8 8 85 Easy
4 Chemical bonding. 8 4 19 69 Easy
5 Stoichiometry (chemical formulae,
equations and calculations.)
23 35 31 12 Difficult
6 Periodic table. 0 15 23 62 Easy
7 Chemical reactions. 4 27 35 35 difficult
8 Reduction oxidation (redox) reaction. 12 15 38 35 difficult
9 Acids bases and salts. 4 23 38 35 Easy
10 Preparation of salts. 8 38 27 27 difficult
11 Reactivity series. 0 15 38 46 easy

25. Table2: The topics perceived difficult
The data obtained were subjected into mean statistics and converted into percentages. The level
of difficulty of a particular topic was determined by the percentage values of respondents as
follows: If the sum of percentage of respondents who selected; Very Difficult (VD %), Difficult
(D %) and slightly Difficult (SD %) is greater than the sum of the percentage of respondents who
selected; Slightly Difficult (SD %) and Not Difficult (ND %); then that particular topic was
considered difficult and vice versa.
VD% + D% + SD > SD% + ND% = difficult. VD% + D% + SD% < SD +
ND = Easy
Table 2 above depicts the learners‟ percentage scores on each topic. The table shows that
learners perceived five (5) topics as difficult, these topics include: Stoichiometry (mole
concepts), Chemical Reactions, Reduction-Oxidation (REDOX) Reactions, Preparation of Salts
and Organic Chemistry. Findings from this study have revealed that, secondary school learners
perceived almost half of the topics in chemistry curriculum as difficult. Therefore, the low
performance in science which is experienced in grade twelve final examinations may not be
surprising since learners find number of topics in the curriculum difficult to comprehend. The
outcomes of this study are in agreement with those of Jimoh (2010) and S.Bello (2015) who
found out that secondary school learners perceive Stoichiometry, chemical equations, chemical
reactions, Redox reactions and Organic chemistry as difficult topics in chemistry. Uchegbu et al
(2016) stressed that; learners may not perform well in their final examination if the sources of the
difficulties are not removed. These findings were summarized in the bar chart below:
12 Extraction of metals. 4 15 31 50 easy
13 Extraction of metals. 4 0 35 62 easy
14 water 4 4 19 73 easy
15 Carbon-dioxide 4 0 23 73 easy
16 Hydrogen 4 4 27 65 easy
17 oxygen 0 12 23 65 easy
18 Organic chemistry. 0 31 35 35 difficult

26. Figure 2: showing topics perceived difficult by learners.
4.2.2 Research question two; what are the causes of difficulties experienced by
learners?
To determine the causes of difficulties experienced by learners, the collected data as subjected to
mean statistics and the scores were converted into percentages and tabulated. Therefore, the
reasons or the causes of the perceived difficulties were being determined as follows: If the sum
of percentage scores of learners who strongly agreed (SA %) and who agreed (A %) is greater
than the sum of percentage scores of learners who disagreed (D %) and who strongly disagreed
(SD %), then that particular reason was accepted. On the other hand if the sum of percentage
scores of learners who strongly agreed (SA %) and who agreed (A %) is less than the sum of
percentage scores of the learners who disagreed (D %) and who strongly disagreed (SD %), then
that particular reason was rejected.
SA% + A% > D% + SD% = Accepted SA% + A% < D% +SD =Rejected
The study revealed that there are reasons as to why secondary school learners find some topics in
chemistry curriculum difficult to comprehend. The following table represents some of these
reasons

27. s/n Questionnaire items
SA
(%)
A
(%)
D
(%)
SD
(%)
Remarks
1
Chemistry is more difficult for me than
any of my classmates
0 23 58 19 Rejected
2 It is difficult to understand chemistry
concepts
0 38 58 4 Rejected
3
I lack basic concepts of chemistry
because am schooling in a public school.
0 0 35 65 Rejected
4
I lack practical knowledge due to lack of
instruments in government schools.
8 15 23 54 Rejected
5 I am scared of chemistry practical. 12 15 50 23 Rejected
6 Chemistry syllabus is too wide. 8 45 38 9 accepted
7 Chemistry involves too many
calculations.
8 15 58 19 accepted
8
It is difficult to understand chemical
equations and arithmetic.
0 58 31 12 Accepted
9
Chemistry is abstract because we have
never seen most of the things we learn.
15 42 35 8 Accepted
10 The laboratory is not well equipped. 8 27 38 27 Rejected
11
My chemistry teacher lack motivations
and encouragements.
4 8 62 27 Rejected
12
Chemistry is too abstract due to the way
the teacher teaches it.
12 19 62 27 Rejected
13
My chemistry teacher does not use
instructional materials while teaching.
4 35 42 19 rejected
14 Chemistry is meant for boys and not for
girls.
0 0 15 85 Rejected
Table 3: reasons for perceived difficulties

28. As shown the above table 4 above, a relatively high percent (58%) of learners claimed agreed
that chemistry involves many calculations and chemical equations and arithmetic, where (31%)
disagreed and only (12%) strongly disagreed to the statement. This implies that learners lack
mathematical knowledge. Topics like mole concepts demand for mathematical knowledge.
Therefore, if learners lack mathematical efficacy, they are likely to face challenges. Another high
percentages (45%) of learners agreed that chemistry syllabus is too wide, (38%) of learners
disagreed, (12%) strongly agreed and only (9%) strongly disagreed to the statement. This implies
that learners find it difficult to master the concepts with a deep understanding due to the
wideness of the syllabus. The study also revealed that (42%) of learners agreed that chemistry is
abstract because they have never seen most of the things they learn in class, (35%) of the learners
disagreed, (15% strongly agreed and only (8%) strongly disagreed to the statement. This means
that learners are not often exposed to practical. Uchegbu et al (2016) found out that learners are
not exposed to field trip so they do not relate what they learn in class to the real life situation.
The study conducted by C.Moyo (2018) to investigate areas of student‟s difficulties in chemistry
revealed that; teachers too perceived difficult topics in chemistry. According to his findings,
teachers mentioned reasons why they perceived some topics difficult and some of the reasons
were: nature of the subject, prior experiences and mathematics efficacy. These findings are in
agreement with the current study. A teacher is known to be a more knowledgeable, so if he/she
perceives difficulties in the subject, it is impossible to change the learner‟s misconceptions.
Constructivists believe that; learners have prior knowledge concerning the subject matter;
however, the knowledge can be the misconceptions. Therefore, it is the duty of the teacher to
change the misconception. This requires a teacher to have deep understanding of the subject
matter and concepts involved. The reasons for perceived difficulties were also summarized in bar
chart below (figure 3)

29. Figure 3
4.3 Findings from Valley View Secondary School
As earlier stated that the data collected from each school were analyzed separately, this section
intended to present the findings from Valley View Secondary School.
4.3.1 Research question one; what topic (s) in chemistry curriculum do
secondary school learners perceive difficult?
To answer this question, the collected data was subjected to mean statistics, converted into
percentages and the following table (4) and a figure (4) were prepared for the purpose of data
interpretation.

30. Table 3: showing the percentage scores of learners on the extent of difficulties perceived on each
topic.
The level of difficulty of a particular topic was being determined as follows; for a particular
topic, if the sum of percentage scores of learners who selected; very difficult (VD %), difficult
(D %) and slightly difficult (SD %) is greater than the sum of percentage scores of learners who
S/N topics VD
(%)
D
(%)
SD
(%)
ND (%) REMARK
1 Particulate nature of matter. 20 20 30 30 Easy
2 Experimental techniques. 20 10 20 50 Easy
3 Atoms, elements, molecules
and compounds.
0 0 20 80 Easy
4 Chemical bonding. 10 30 10 50 Easy
5 Stoichiometry (chemical
formulae, equations and
calculations.)
20 30 30 20 Difficult
6 Periodic table. 20 0 20 60 Easy
7 Chemical reactions. 10 40 30 20 difficult
8 Reduction oxidation (redox)
reaction.
20 50 0 30 difficult
9 Acids bases and salts. 0 10 0 90 Easy
10 Preparation of salts. 10 0 20 70 Easy
11 Reactivity series. 20 10 40 30 easy
12 Extraction of metals. 10 70 0 20 Difficult
13 Air 0 0 40 60 easy
14 water 0 20 20 60 easy
15 Carbon-dioxide 10 30 50 10 Difficult
16 Hydrogen 0 10 20 70 easy
17 oxygen 10 30 20 40 easy
18 Organic chemistry. 50 20 10 20 difficult

31. selected; slightly difficult (SD %) and not difficult (ND %), then that particular topic was
considered difficult. On the other hand, if the sum of percentage scores of learners who selected;
(VD %), (D %) is less than the percentage scores of learners who selected; (SD %) and (ND %),
then that a particular topic was considered easy.
VD% + D% + SD% > SD% + ND =Difficult
VD% + D% + SD% < SD% +ND% =Easy
From the table above, it was observed that learners ranked difficult topics as: (i) stoichiometry
where; 20% said it is very difficult (VD), 30% said it is difficult (D), 30% said its slightly
difficult (SD) and 20% of the learners said it is not difficult (ND); (ii) chemical reactions in
which 10% said it is very difficult (VD), 40% said it is difficult (D), 30% said it is slightly
difficult (SD) and only 20% of the learners said it is not difficult (ND); (iii) reduction oxidation
(redox) reactions in which 20% of the respondents said it is very difficult (VD), 50% said it is
difficult (D), and 30% said it not difficult (ND); (iv) extraction of metals in which 10% of the
learners said it is very difficult (VD), 70% said it is difficult (D) while 20% said the topic is not
difficult (ND); (v) carbon-dioxide in which 10% said it is very difficult (VD), 30% said it is
difficult (D), 50% said it is slightly difficult (SD) and 10% said it is not difficult (ND) and (vi)
organic chemistry where 50% of the learners said it is very difficult (VD), 20% said it is difficult
(D), 10% said it is slightly difficult (SD) while 20% said it is not difficult (ND). A total number
of six topics were perceived difficult by learners. These findings are in agreement with the
findings of S.Bello et al (2015) who conducted a research to identify difficult topics perceived by
learners in chemistry where they discovered that; stoichiometry, redox reactions chemical
reactions and other concepts were perceived difficult by learners. Research has revealed that
stoichiometry and redox reactions are the topics which most students perceive to be very
difficult.
The following bar chart (figure 4) summarizes the topics that learners perceive difficult in
chemistry.

32. Figure 4: perceived difficult topics
4.3.2 Research question number two; what are the causes of difficulties
experienced by learners?
To determine the causes of difficult experienced by learners, the collected data was subjected to
mean statistics and the scores were converted into percentages for easy interpretation. The
reasons for the difficulties perceived were being determined as follows: If the sum of percentage
scores of learners who strongly agreed (SA %) and who agreed (A %) is greater than the sum of
percentage scores of learners who disagreed (D %) and who strongly disagreed (SD %), then that
particular reason was accepted. On the other hand if the sum of percentage scores of learners
who strongly agreed (SA %) and who agreed (A %) is less than the sum of percentage scores of
the learners who disagreed (D %) and who strongly disagreed (SD %), then that particular reason
was rejected.
SA% + A% > D% + SD% = Accepted
SA% + A% < D% +SD% = Rejected

33. The following table (5) was prepared from the data obtained in order for the data to be
interpreted easily.
s/n Questionnaire items
SD
(%)
D
(%)
SA
(%)
A (%) Remarks
1
Chemistry is more difficult for me than any of
my classmates
20 40 10 30 Rejected
2 It is difficult to understand chemistry concepts 0 60 0 40 Rejected
3
I lack basic concepts of chemistry because am
schooling in a public school.
20 20 20 40 Accepted
4
I lack practical knowledge due to lack of
instruments in government schools.
20 10 30 40 Accepted
5 I am scared of chemistry practical. 40 50 0 10 Rejected
6 Chemistry syllabus is too wide. 0 20 10 70 accepted
7 Chemistry involves too many calculations. 10 10 20 60 accepted
8
It is difficult to understand chemical equations
and arithmetic.
0 40 0 60 Accepted
9
Chemistry is abstract because we have never
seen most of the things we learn.
20 40 0 40 Rejected
10 The laboratory is not well equipped. 20 10 20 50 Accepted
11
My chemistry teacher lack motivations and
encouragements.
20 60 10 10 Rejected

34. 12
Chemistry is too abstract due to the way the
teacher teaches it.
40 0 30 30 Accepted
13
My chemistry teacher does not use instructional
materials while teaching.
10 20 50 20 Accepted
14 Chemistry is meant for boys and not for girls. 70 20 0 10 Rejected
Table 5: showing reasons for difficulties perceived.
From the table above, it was observed that a relatively high percentage (70%) of learners agreed
that chemistry syllabus is too wide and only 20% of the learners disagreed to this statement.
Therefore this is one of the reasons or causes why learners perceived some topics difficult in
chemistry. This outcome is in agreement with the outcomes of the research conducted by
Uchegbu et al (2016) where they discovered that learners perceived some topics in chemistry
difficult because of the wideness of the chemistry syllabus. Another high percentage (50%) of
learners indicated strongly agreed that; their chemistry teachers do not use instruction materials
while only 10% disagreed to the statement. Instructional Materials, also known as
Teaching/Learning Materials, are any collection of materials including animate and inanimate
objects and human and non-human resources that a teacher may use in teaching and learning
situations to help achieve desired learning objectives. (Wikipedia) this means that if teachers do
not use instructional materials, they cannot achieve the desired learning objectives. As a result,
this may cause learners to think that the concepts being taught are difficult to comprehend.
Another 30% of learners strongly agreed (SA) that chemistry is too abstract, 30% agreed (A)
while 40% of the learners disagreed to the statement. This abstract nature of chemistry may be as
a result of the way teachers present the concepts to learners or the language that is used in
chemistry. Similar findings are shown in the research done by Bello et al (2015) where they
found out that language used in chemistry concepts, contradicts with everyday use of language.
50% of the learners agreed that laboratories are not well equipt.20% strongly agreed (SA) to the
statement, 10% disagreed while 20% strongly disagreed (SD) to the statement. Chemistry is a
practical science, and so it should be taught practically. However, this depends on how equipped
the laboratories are, at a given school. This implies that if learners are not exposed to practical,
they will definitely not be able to relate what they learn in class to the real world and eventually
will think the concepts are difficult to comprehend. 40% of learners agreed that they lack

35. practical knowledge because of lack of laboratory equipment in government schools and 30%
strongly agreed (SA) while only 10% disagreed to the statement. The othe reason observed in the
table 4 above is that; chemistry involves too many calculations, equation and arithmetic. Where
60% of learners strongly agreed (SA) to the statement while only 10% disagreed to the
statement. This shows that learners lack mathematical efficacy, hence mole calculation becomes
very difficult for them to understand. As result, learners try to memorize the chemical formulas
without necessarily understanding them. Therefore they perceive these concepts difficult.
4.4 Summary
This chapter has presented information with regard to data presentation and analysis. The chapter
has presented the interpretation of the data collected from Valley View Secondary School and
Nkana Secondary School. The data collected from both schools were analyzed and interpreted
separately. Also the discussions of the results have been presented in this chapter.

36. CHAPTER 5: SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS
5.0 overview
This chapter gives the summery of the earlier chapters, conclusions and recommendations for
suggested areas for further studies. The chapter summarizes the findings of the study;
Conclusions are drawn based on some findings after which recommendations for remedial
measures are made to the authorities of the schools and the department of education. As a result,
some recommendations were made at the end of this chapter.
5.1 Summary
Chemistry concepts often pose considerable challenges to students at all levels of instruction,
from secondary school to all the university chemistry courses. The researcher identified the
problem and conducted the problem analysis. Generally, chemistry is often regarded as a
difficult subject, an observation which sometimes repels students from continuing with studies in
chemistry. Teaching methods used by most teachers when teaching chemistry greatly affect the
learning process of the students and in turn reins their perceptions towards some topics in
chemistry. Ineffective teaching strategies which are more cantered on the teacher rather than the

37. student are among the major contributors of the challenges students face in the learning of
chemistry. Real understanding of chemistry requires not only the grasp of key concepts but also
the establishment of meaningful links to bring the concepts into a coherent whole. Sufficient data
was collected to ascertain and support the existence of the problem. The questionnaires were
used as data collection instruments. The data obtained were subjected into mean statistics and
converted into percentages. The level of difficulty of a particular topic was determined by the
percentage values of respondents as follows: If the sum of percentage of respondents who
selected; Very Difficult (VD %), Difficult (D %) and slightly Difficult (SD %) is greater than the
sum of the percentage of respondents who selected; Slightly Difficult (SD %) and Not Difficult
(ND %); then that particular topic was considered difficult and vice versa. The results obtained
showed that some topics such as stoichiometry (mole concepts), chemical reactions, chemical
equations, reduction-oxidation (redox) reactions, acids bases and salts and organic chemistry
were perceived as difficult by most students. And some of the reasons for the difficulties
perceived were; chemistry syllabus is too wide, chemistry is so abstract that learners cannot
relate what they learn in class to the real world, chemistry involves too many calculations and
learners are not motivated to learn chemistry by their subject teachers. In an important subject
like chemistry, models are used to describe and explain the microscopic world and relate it to
macroscopic properties of matter in order to explain many of these concepts. As students
progress in the study of chemistry, the familiar concepts do change and are being replaced by
different models. This change conflicts their everyday experiences. The languages used in
chemistry concepts are not familiar to the students.

38. 5.2 conclusion
The principal aim of this study was to identify the topics which secondary school learners
perceive difficult in chemistry curriculum. It is not being suggested here that chemistry can be
made simple by avoiding teaching difficult concepts or topics! Indeed, trivializing the chemistry
to be taught is likely to be perceived by the learner as a devaluation of the important of the
subject. The key lies in seeing chemistry from the point of view of the students. Many students
come to class with wrong ideas, confused ideas or even a complete lack of background
knowledge. Therefore, learning experience need to be offered to prepare students to grasp new
materials by clarifying or correcting previously held concept or by providing fundamental
instruction on such concepts. Chapter two brought forth literature review which comprised of
explanations from some researchers. In chapter three, qualitative paradigm was employed for
data gathering. Target groups and the accessible sample were outlined and how instruments
designed were administered. In chapter four data was presented and analyzed. From the findings,
it was discovered that students find some topics in Chemistry curriculum difficult and the factors
that caused the perceived difficult topics in chemistry curriculum included: the abstract nature of
chemistry, the wideness of the subject, learners lack mathematical efficacy, the subject involves
too many calculations, non-functional laboratories, teaching methods and non-use of
instructional materials. The findings also showed that, majority of learners of Kitwe District have
not yet reached the operational stage of cognitive development and as a result, they have
difficulties with the abstract topics. The two major factors influencing attitude towards a subject
are teachers‟ quality and curriculum quality. The process of learning should for the development
of link between „‟Islands‟‟ of knowledge. The teacher must link concepts so that the learner can
make a coherent whole of the ideas. This allows the development in the learning of simple but
meaningful concepts. Hence teachers should re-examine and evaluate their present teaching

39. strategies, they should stop the use of abstract terms or concepts while teaching. Although
recommendations are given below, solutions might not be easy especially on the part of learners.
However, with regard to recommendations to the schools and teachers, positive results could be
achieved.

40. 5.3 Recommendations
Considering the findings and the conclusions drawn from this study, the following
recommendations were made:
1. The secondary school chemistry curriculum should be renewed by the Curriculum
Development Center Officers (CDCO) without further delays. Furthermore, the
curriculum planners should look into the curriculum; make provisions for more practical
works and illustrations of different concepts. Also the curriculum for chemistry must be
properly addressed and the scheme of work must not be overloaded. As a matter of fact,

41. the classroom teachers should be involved in the drawing of scheme for the teaching of
chemistry.
2. As practical is an integral part of chemistry, then there should be well-equipped
laboratories with essential amenities like water system, electricity and fire extinguisher,
to mention but a few. Provision of relevant and up-to-date textbooks for both teachers
and students will also promote effective teachings, as the teacher can prepare ahead from
different textbooks, and the students can also read ahead of the class. However, the
school should not only rely on the government for provision of the instructional
materials. However the schools should make an effort to provide teaching aids such as
models and adequate textbooks for learners.
3. When preparing schemes of works and lesson plans, more time and attention should be
given to the topics which have been perceived as difficult by most learners. More time
should be given to topics like; stoichiometry, chemical reactions, acids bases and salts
redox reactions, chemical equations and organic chemistry.
4. Pupils should study hard to pass Chemistry and they should make use of varied textbooks
to promote relational knowledge and conceptual understanding of chemical equations,
stoichiometry, acids bases and salts and organic chemistry regardless of being widely
considered as challenging topics.
5. More qualified chemistry teachers who are practical oriented should be posted to the
secondary schools to demystify the seemingly abstract concept and topics in chemistry.
6. Teachers should also aim to upgrade their academic qualifications in the wake of new
pedagogies of teaching and desist from continued reliance on textbooks but allow
learners to construct their own knowledge. Teachers are encouraged to participate in,
Continuous for Professional Development (CPD) programs which are taking place in
schools.
7. Most importantly, the teachers‟ academic and professional qualifications should be based
on the required discipline, that is, chemistry. Non-chemistry graduates should not be
employed to teach chemistry as this will affect the effectiveness of such teachers as
he/she can easily run away from difficult topics.
8. On the issue of time, teachers should also introduce extra lessons to avoid hurriedly
teaching the topics like; stoichiometry, chemical equations, chemical bonding acids bases

42. and salts and organic chemistry which are perceived difficult by learners. They should
also create a positive learning environment that can motivate learners to work hard and
erase the belief that Chemistry is a difficult subject.
9. Another important factor or suggestion is the issues of the teaching methods. The
chemistry teaching methods must be re-oriented.
10. Also prompt payments of teachers‟ salaries, allowances and organization of seminar will
promote effective of the subject.
11. Finally the researcher recommends for further research on the topics which secondary
school learners perceive to be difficult in chemistry curriculum on a large scale to obtain
more information in this regard.

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47. APPENDICES
APPENDIX 1: LEARNERS’ QUESTIONNAIRE
THE COPPERBELT UNIVERSITY
SCHOOL OF MATHEMATICS AND NATURAL SCIENCES,
DEPARTMENT OF MATHEMATICS AND SCIENCE EDUCATION
QUESTIONNAIRE FOR LEARNERS
TITLE: THE TOPICS THAT ARE PERCEIVED TO BE DIFFICULT IN CHEMISTRY
CURRICULUM BY SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS/PUPILS (A CASE OF SELECTED
SCHOOLS IN KITWE DISTRICT)
Dear respondents,

48. In this questionnaire, you will find questions about yourself. Some questions demand for facts
while others ask for your opinion on the topics that secondary school learners perceive difficult
in chemistry syllabus. Therefore your honesty and truthful perception is very important and will
be highly appreciated. Your responses will be used strictly for academic purposes and will only
be seen by the researcher and the supervisor of this study.
Please assist by responding to the following:
PART A: Social-Demographic Information.
[Tick (√) and write where appropriate]
1 Age range in years;
Below 20 □ 20-30 □
2 Sex: male □ female □
3 Educational statuses:
Grade 10 □ grade11 □
Grade 12 □
4 At which institution are you based?
Name of the school...........................................................................................................................
5 Nature of the school:
Single –sex □ Co-educational □

49. PART B : the topics which learners perceive difficult
The following are chemistry topics, circle or tick (√) the extent of difficulty of each topic
according to your perception.
Key: VD = Very Difficult, D = Difficult, SD = Slightly Difficult and ND = Not Difficult.
1 Particulate nature of matter. VD D SD ND
2 Experimental techniques. VD D SD ND
3 Atoms, elements, molecules and compounds. VD D SD ND
4 Chemical bonding. VD D SD ND
5 Stoichiometry (chemical formulae, equations and calculations.) VD D SD ND
6 Period table. VD D SD ND
7 Chemical reactions. VD D SD ND
8 Reduction oxidation (redox) reaction. VD D SD ND
9 Acids bases and salts. VD D SD ND
10 Preparation of salts. VD D SD ND
11 Reactivity series. VD D SD ND
12 Extraction of metals. VD D SD ND

50. 13 Air. VD D SD ND
14 Water. VD D SD ND
15 Carbon-dioxide VD D SD ND
16 Hydrogen. VD D SD ND
17 Oxygen. VD D SD ND
18 Organic chemistry. VD D SD ND
PART C: the reasons for the perceived difficulties.
1 Circle the extent of your agreement to the following:
Key: SD = Strongly Disagree, D =Disagree, SA = Strongly Agree and A = Agree.
1
Chemistry is more difficult for me than any of my
classmates
SD D SA A
2 It is difficult to understand chemistry concepts SD D SA A
3 I lack basic concepts of chemistry because am schooling
in a public school.
SD D SA A

51. 4
I lack practical knowledge due to lack of instruments in
government schools.
SD D SA A
5 I am scared of chemistry practical. SA D SA A
6 Chemistry syllabus is too wide. SD D SA A
7 Chemistry involves too many calculations. SD D SA A
8
It is difficult to understand chemical equations and
arithmetic.
SD D SA A
9
Chemistry is abstract because we have never seen most of
the things we learn.
SD D SA A
10 The laboratory is not well equipped. SD D SA A
11
My chemistry teacher lack motivations and
encouragements.
SD D SA A
12
Chemistry is too abstract due to the way the teacher
teaches it.
SD D SA A
13
My chemistry teacher does not use instructional materials
while teaching.
SD D SA A
14 Chemistry is meant for boys and not for girls. SD D SA A

52. APPENDIX II: THE LETTER FOR DATA COLLECTION

53. APENDIX III: PICTURES OF LEARNERS DURING DATA COLLECTION