Effect of Mastery Learning on Senior Secondary School Students’ Cognitive Learning Outcome in Quantitative Chemistry

Abstract

The cognitive learning outcome of Senior Secondary School chemistry students has been poor over the years in Nigeria. Poor mathematical skills and inefficient teaching methods have been identified as some of the major reasons for this. Bloom’s theory of school learning and philosophy of mastery learning assert that virtually all students are capable of attaining a high degree of learning if given the appropriate, prior and concurrent conditions. This study investigated the effect of mastery learning on senior secondary school students’ cognitive learning outcome in quantitative chemistry. Quasi-experimental control group design was used for the study. Four Secondary Schools were randomly selected and randomly assigned to experimental and control groups. A total of four hundred and one (401) chemistry students were used for the study. Data was collected using a 25-item chemistry achievement test (CAT) drawn from stoichiometry and mole concept. The instrument was pilot tested and Kuder Richardson formula 21 (KR21) was used to establish the reliability coefficient (r = 0.7). Pre-test was administered to both the experimental and control groups to ascertain if the two groups were comparable and have the same entry characteristics before the treatment. A post-test was administered to both groups after two weeks of exposing the experimental group to mastery learning and the control group to conventional teaching method. Data were analyzed using independent sample t-test. The mastery learning group had a higher mean score (= 78.2; s = 9.90) than the control group (= 58.4; s = 16.07). The difference was highly significant (t₃₉₉ = 14.92; p = 0.00).  About sixty nine percent (69%) of the students in the mastery learning group scored 80% and above, a score attainable by only 17.5% of the students in the control group. Similarly, about half (50%) of the students receiving conventional instruction scored between 40% and 49% whereas less than 1% of the students in the mastery learning group were in this group. The effect size was substantial (0.6). The researcher concluded that mastery learning is a very effective method of teaching and better than the conventional teaching method and recommended that chemistry teachers should be encouraged to adopt it in order to enhance the cognitive learning outcome of students in quantitative chemistry.

Keywords: Mastery Learning, Quantitative Chemistry, Feedback, Corrective instruction, Cognitive Learning Outcome