Assessment of Secondary School Chemistry Teachers’ Quality through Identification and Use of Laboratory Apparatus in Cross River State, Nigeria

Abstract

This paper assessed secondary school chemistry teachers’ quality with respect to identification and use of seventy-one (71) laboratory pieces of apparatus. Four hundred and fifty-four (454) teachers purposively selected from the three educational zones in Cross River State was the main study sample. An instrument titled Laboratory Apparatus Identification and Use Questionnaire (LAIUQ) was used to gather data from the subjects. By using simple percentage and independent t-test to analyze the data, results revealed that 354 (78.0%) of the teachers could not identify (through writing of names and uses) 60 (84.50%) of the commonly used pieces of laboratory apparatus. Gender and school location of teachers exerted significant influence on their level of identification and uses of laboratory apparatus. Based on the results, recommendations aimed at strengthening teachers’ competencies in laboratory usage were made among which was that state and local governments should organize re-training workshops to acquaint them with laboratory apparatus and their uses.

Key words: Assessment, Teacher Quality, Laboratory Apparatus.