Re-Engineering Chemistry Education for Creativity in Covid-19 Era: Impacts of Improvisation on Students’ Academic Achievement and Retention

Abstract

Aim of the Study: The study examines the influence of improvisation on students' academic performance and knowledge retention as a component of restructuring chemistry education to foster creativity during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Methodology: The research was guided by four research questions and four hypotheses. A quasi-experimental pretest-posttest non-randomized control group design was employed. The study involved 160 SS2 chemistry students from Oyi local government area in the Ogidi education zone of Anambra State. Data was collected using the Chemistry Practical Achievement Test (CPAT). The collected data underwent test-retest analysis, establishing a reliability index of 0.82. Mean, standard deviation, and z-test were utilized to analyze the data and test the null hypothesis at a significance level of 0.05.

Findings: The findings revealed that the use of improvised materials had a significant and superior impact on students' academic performance and knowledge retention compared to standardized materials when teaching chemistry for creativity during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, no significant impact on gender was observed.

Conclusion & Recommendations: Based on these findings, it is recommended that teachers explore strategies to enhance students' science process skills, such as observation, inference, experimentation, and hypothesis formulation. Developing these skills can foster creativity among learners during the COVID-19 era and contribute to improved academic performance and knowledge retention.