ASSESSING THE LEVEL OF ACQUISITION OF BASIC AND INTEGRATED SCIENCE PROCESS SKILLS IN QUALITATIVE ANALYSIS AMONG SECONDARY SCHOOL CHEMISTRY STUDENTS IN EBONYI STATE, NIGERIA

Chemistry students demonstrate poor performance and achievement in integrated science process skills, particularly when conducting qualitative analysis, despite the critical role of Chemistry in national development. This study explores the Level of Acquisition of Basic and Integrated Science Process Skills in Qualitative Analysis among Secondary School Chemistry Students in Ebonyi State, Nigeria. A descriptive cross-sectional survey design was used. The population of the study comprised two thousand, eight hundred and seventy-two (2872) Senior Secondary III Chemistry students. A multi-stage sampling technique was used to select a sample of two hundred and seventy-five (275) students. The instruments of data collection were the Science Process Skill Observation Schedule and the Qualitative Analysis Practice Test. Mean, standard deviation, t-test and ANOVA were used for data analysis. Results show that the Chemistry students acquired high levels of the basic science process skills of observation, classification, measurement, communication and prediction; as well as high levels of the integrated science process skills of controlling variables, manipulation, inferring and interpretation of data, but a low level of the skill of experimenting. There was no significant difference in the level of acquisition of basic process skills based on gender and school location. There was no significant difference in the level of acquisition of integrated process skills based on gender, but there was a significant difference based on school location. Therefore, the researchers recommended among others that Chemistry laboratories in every public school in the state should be properly equipped irrespective of school location.