INFLUENCE OF COGNITIVE STYLES ON SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS’ INTEREST AND ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT IN CHEMISTRY IN ANAMBRA STATE

Abstract

Cognitive styles refer to the characteristic ways in which individuals process information, perceive, think, learn, and solve problems. This study investigated the influence of cognitive styles on students’ interest and academic achievement in Chemistry in Anambra State. Six research questions were answered and six null hypotheses were tested at a 0.05 level of significance in the study. The design of the study was an ex-post-facto research design. The population of the study was 7,833 public senior secondary two (SSII) students in Anambra State. The sample consisted of 303 students (123 boys and 180 girls) from six intact classes of six public coeducational secondary schools in Aguata Education Zone, Anambra State. Three instruments were used for data collection: the Grouped Embedded Figure Test, which was used to categorize students into different cognitive styles, including dependent and independent cognitive styles; the Chemistry Interest Scale; and the Chemistry Achievement Tests. Three experts validated the instruments, and the reliability coefficients were 0.72 and 0.89, respectively. Research questions were answered using mean and standard deviations while the hypotheses were tested using t-test and analyzing of variance (ANOVA) at 0.05 level of significant. Findings, among others, revealed no significant difference between the mean achievement scores of field-dependent and field-independent students with a cognitive style in Chemistry. Additionally, there is no significant difference in the mean interest response between field-dependent and field-independent cognitive styles in Chemistry. Based on this, it was recommended, among other things, that the Chemistry curriculum be planned in such a way that the teacher can monitor the cognitive styles of students. Education authorities should encourage Chemistry teachers and teacher education institutions to incorporate cognitive style into the curriculum content.