CHEMISTRY EDUCATION

This study investigated university students’ attitude towards chemistry and its effect on their academic achievement among 50 undergraduate chemistry students at the University of Benin. The aim was to determine how perceived relevance, enjoyment, and difficulty influence performance in chemistry courses. Using a descriptive survey design, data were collected with a structured questionnaire and analyzed with SPSS using descriptive statistics, correlation, and regression. The mean scores showed moderate to positive attitudes: perceived relevance (M = 3.01, SD = 0.64), enjoyment (M = 2.95, SD = 0.62), and perceived difficulty (M = 2.83, SD = 0.59). The mean academic achievement score was 68.7 ± 9.4, indicating moderate–high performance. Correlation analysis revealed significant positive relationships between relevance (r = 0.42, p < 0.01) and enjoyment (r = 0.49, p < 0.01) with academic achievement, while perceived difficulty correlated negatively (r = –0.34, p < 0.01). Regression analysis showed that the attitude components jointly explained 43% of the variance in performance (R = 0.66, R² = 0.43, Adjusted R² = 0.41, F = 20.26, p < 0.001). Enjoyment (β = 0.37, p = 0.000) and relevance (β = 0.28, p = 0.000) were the strongest positive predictors, while difficulty had a significant negative effect (β = –0.25, p = 0.000). Gender differences were observed, with females (M = 69.8 ± 9.1) outperforming males (M = 67.2 ± 9.7, p = 0.037). No significant difference occurred across study levels (F = 0.71, p = 0.546). The study concludes that positive attitudes—especially enjoyment and perceived relevance—enhance academic success, while perceived difficulty lowers performance. It recommends interactive teaching, real life applications, and improved laboratory access to strengthen students’ engagement and achievement in chemistry.

The main purpose of the study was to assess the factors affecting students' academic performance in chemistry in the University of Benin. The specific object of the study was to investigate into the factors affecting poor performance of chemistry students, to
determine the relationship between teaching methods and academic performance in chemistry. The study also intended to determine the strategies adopted to improve the performance of undergraduates in chemistry and to determine if there is an effect of
teacher’s utilization of instructional materials on the performance of undergraduates. The research design adopted for this study was a descriptive survey design and the population of the study are chemistry undergraduate in the University of Benin. The
study uses a stratified sampling technique and questionnaire was distributed to the selected samples and responses was elicited from them. The study was validated by face and content validity from the supervisor and professors in the department. The data
collected was analyzed using counts, frequencies and percentages.