Perception of Psychosocial Environment of Chemistry by Senior Secondary School Chemistry Teachers and their Students: A Nigerian Perspective

Abstract

The study was designed to determine secondary school chemistry students’ and their teachers’ perceptions of their classroom environment.  The study sample consisted of 280 (grade 12) chemistry students and 50 chemistry teachers in Warri Municipality of Nigeria.   Actual and preferred versions of Individualized classroom Environment Questionnaire were administered to the sample.  Z-test statistic observed at 0.05 alpha level was used for analyzing the data.  The analyses indicated that there was significant difference between the perceptions of actual classroom environment by the students and their teachers.  The findings further revealed that there was difference between the students’ perception of their actual and preferred environments but there was no difference between perception of the actual environment by the teachers and that for preferred environment by the students.  Implications of the findings were discussed and suggestions for further studies were given.

Keywords: Chemistry; classroom environment; perception; secondary school students.