RUTH EBIMIEBHOR OMENAI

This study investigates the multifaceted factors that influence students’ interest in studying chemistry in Egor Local Government Area in Edo State. Five research questions were raised in the study. And five hypotheses was formulated and tested at 0.05 level of significance. The descriptive survey design was adopted in this study. The population of this study includes all private and public senior secondary school offering chemistry in Egor Local Government Area of Edo State. A sample size of hundred (100) students was randomly selected for this study across SS1 – SS3. The instruments were validated and to determine the instruments’ reliability, twenty (20) students with similar academic standing to the sample were used in the pilot testing and a reliability score of 0.808 was obtained. Data was collected through questionnaire that were randomly distributed to ten (10) schools in the Local Government Area. The method of analysis was by mean score rating which analyzed data based on the 2.5 acceptance region format. Based on the research, it was discovered that students are more interest in studying chemistry when the teachers utilize effective teaching methods and aids, parents who serve as role models greatly influence students’ interest in studying chemistry and students study chemistry as a requirement for the science course they wish to study. The study recommends that Governments and school managements should provide an environment suitable for the best teaching methodologies and allocate appropriate teaching aids, Government agencies should make provisions for free laboratory coats across senior secondary schools to increase students’ interest in studying chemistry and School administrators should make it imperative to always hire professional teachers who can effectively increase the interest of studying chemistry through adequate teaching methods and maximizing the utility of instructional material