IDENTIFICATION OF ERRORS IN PHYSICS AND EFFICACY OF A REMEDIATION PACKAGEAMONG SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS

(A CASE STUDY OF ZARIA, KADUNA STATE, NIGERIA)

By

Author

Presented To

Department of Education

ABSTRACT
This study identified the errors committed in Physics Examinations and tested the efficacy of a Remediation Package developed and tested among Senior Secondary School Students in Zaria Education Zone, Kaduna State, Nigeria .Two coeducational schools participated out of nineteen senior secondary schools in the zone. 122 students, comprising of 92 males and 30 females out of 1831 senior secondary school students were used in the study. The study design was in two folds; Diagnostic test for identification errors was survey while the remediation part wasQuasi experimental in nature. The instruments used were Error Diagnostic Test (EDT), Physics Achievement Test (PAT) and Remediation Package for Identified Errors in Physics (RP).During the diagnostic segment seventeen errors were identified and a Remediation Package for Identified Errors in Physics (RP) was developed based on identified error topics. At the remediation segment, experimental group was exposed to the remediation package using problem solving approach while the control group was taught using lecture method. Six research questions were raised and five null hypotheses were developed for testing. Frequencies and percentages of errors and achievement scores were used in answering the research questions while Chi-square, Pearson Product-Moment correlation Coefficientand t-test were the statistical tools used for testing the hypothesis at 0.05 level of confidence. After analysing the data, the following were the major findings; four error-types were identified with factual error having the highest and communicative error having the least frequency. There was significant difference in the frequency of different error-types committed by the SSII students in Physics examination, there was significant difference in the academic achievement of SSII students between those exposed to the Physics remediation package and those taught using lecture method and there was an inverse relationship between frequency of errors and academic achievement scores of subjects. As error increased the achievement score decreased. This shows that the remedial package developed based on diagnosed errors and taught using problem solving method during remediation was effective in reducing error frequency and improving students‘ academic achievement. Recommendations were made for using the developed package to address similar situations too and Physics teachers should be trained and retrained with use of problem solving teaching strategy and on how to use the remediation package used in the study.