Effect of the Think–pair–share Instructional Strategy on Students’ Achievement and Interest in Chemical Bonding among Senior Secondary School Students in Minna Metropolis, Nigeria

Abstract

Students’ achievement in chemistry reflects the extent to which instructional objectives are attained and is often used as a measure of teaching effectiveness. However, evidence from recent studies shows that students’ performance in chemistry continues to be unsatisfactory, especially when conventional teaching methods dominate classroom practice. The study examined the effect of the Think–Pair–Share instructional strategy on students’ achievement and interest in Chemical Bonding among senior secondary school students in Minna Metropolis. Two research questions were posed, and two null hypotheses were formulated and tested at the 0.05 level of significance. A quasi-experimental research design was adopted, specifically a non-randomised pretest–posttest control group design. The sample comprised 120 Senior Secondary School II students selected from two co-educational public secondary schools using a purposive sampling technique. Participants were assigned to either an experimental group, which received instruction through the Think–Pair–Share strategy, or a control group, which was taught using the conventional lecture method. Data were collected using the Chemical Bonding Achievement Test (CBAT) and the Chemical Bonding Interest Inventory (CBII). Both instruments were subjected to expert validation and were found to be reliable. Descriptive statistics, including mean and standard deviation, were employed to address the research questions, while the independent samples t-test was used to test the hypotheses at the 0.05 level of significance. The findings indicated that students exposed to the Think–Pair–Share instructional strategy achieved higher mean scores in both achievement and interest compared to their counterparts taught using the conventional method. Furthermore, the results revealed statistically significant differences in both achievement and interest in favour of the experimental group. The study concluded that the Think–Pair–Share instructional strategy is more effective in enhancing students’ achievement and interest in Chemical Bonding. Consequently, it was recommended that chemistry teachers adopt this strategy to improve students’ learning outcomes, and that educational stakeholders promote the integration of interactive, student-centred instructional approaches in secondary schools.