Senior High School students’ and teachers’ perceptions about organic chemistry a case study in Asikuma Odoben Brakwa District

Abstract

The purpose of the study was to determine the perceptions that SHS chemistry students and teachers have about organic chemistry as well as topic difficulties in organic chemistry. The population for the study comprised of SHS students who studied elective chemistry and their teachers. Random sampling (lottery) and purposive sampling methods were used to select 100 students and 10 teachers for the sample of the study. The research instruments used to collect data for this study were the organic chemistry perceptions questionnaire for students (OCPQS) and organic chemistry perceptions questionnaire for teachers (OCPQT). Four research questions offered the framework for presenting the findings. Descriptive statistics (frequencies and percentages) were used to analyze the data collected. The findings revealed that SHS Students have a fairly positive perception of organic chemistry while the teachers had a highly positive perception of organic chemistry. Preparation and chemical reactions of alkenes, preparation and chemical reactions of alkynes, structure and stability of benzene, reactions of benzene, comparison of reactions of benzene and alkenes, petroleum, polymers and naming of alkanes and structural isomerism were perceived by students as difficult to understand. The rest of the SHS organic chemistry topics (26 out of 34 topics) were perceived as easy to understand by students. Also, the teachers perceived all the SHS organic chemistry topics as easy to teach with the exception of reactions of benzene. Polymers and polymerization and petroleum were listed by both students and teachers as difficult for students to understand. It was recommended among others that teachers should use varied methods to teach organic chemistry topics to facilitate easy understanding by students.