Chemistry Teachers‟ and Students‟ Conceptual Understanding of Organic Qualitative Analysis

Abstract

Organic qualitative analysis is one of the challenging chemical concept in the teaching and learning of chemistry. The West African Examinations Council (WAEC) Chemistry Chief Examiners for years, have lamented on students‟ poor performance in organic qualitative analysis at the senior high school level. This study, therefore, investigated chemistry teachers‟ and students‟ conceptual understanding of organic qualitative analysis. A sequential explanatory mixed methods design was used to collect both quantitative and qualitative data from 263 SHS 3 students and 47 teachers from six public schools in Central Region. The teachers and students were selected through multistage sampling technique. Diagnostic test, interviews, and observation checklist were used to collect data from the participants. Data was analysed using percentages, means, standard deviations, independent-samples t-test, and themes. The results from the study showed that teachers demonstrated partial level of conceptual understanding and their students demonstrated no scientific understanding on organic qualitative analysis. It is, therefore, recommended that the Ministry of Education through the Ghana Education Service should liaise with teacher education universities to organise short courses for teachers to help them upgrade their content knowledge in chemistry.