EFFECT OF CHEMISTRY PRACTICALS ON STUDENTS' PERFORMANCE IN CHEMISTRY IN CASE OF MORSITO SECONDARY AND PREPARATORY SCHOOL OF GRADE 10 MISHA WOREDAHADIYA ZONE, SNNPR

<strong>ABSTRACT</strong>: The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of chemistry practical on students ‘performance in chemistry in grade 10 Morsito Secondary school of Misha Woreda, Hadiya zone, SNNPR. The main objective of the study was to establish if there is any significant difference in academic achievement in chemistry between students exposed to chemistry practical and those not so exposed. This was against the backdrop of the need to find out the appropriate role played and the reality of what is actually achieved by chemistry practical especially with continued decline in academic performance in secondary school chemistry. The specific objectives of the study were to:to determine students’ performance in chemistry in the pre-test those supported by laboratory work and not supported by laboratory work, to determine whether performance in chemistry of those students taught using practical improved after treatment, to find out if there will a significant difference in performance of the chemistry post test between the experimental and control groups, to find out whether boys and girls exposed and those not exposed to chemistry practical differ in their average score and other area the impact of practical and gender on students’ chemistry performance. Learners" performance in chemistry was determined by scores obtained by students in Students Achievement Tests (SAT) done just before and immediately after exposure to the topic under investigation. Data relating to students views on the use or non use of chemistry practical and its effects on performance in chemistry were collected using pre- and post-test. The computer package SPSS (Statistical package for social scientists) was used to analyze the data. Descriptive statistics such as frequency, mean, percentages, and standard deviation was used to discuss the research findings.The study also used inferential statistics such as independent T-test and compare mean T-test to test the statistical significance in the four null hypotheses generated for the study. The study found that there is a positive relation between the use of chemistry practical and learners’ performance in chemistry. The result of the study indicate that the students had comparable performance in chemistry before treatment; that the performance of the students taught using chemistry practical improved after the treatment; and that there was a significant difference in performance in the post test between the experimental group and control groups. It was also found that the use of chemistry practical in teaching and learning of chemistry at secondary school level, improved ix performance in the subject. There was a difference between the mean scores in the post test of the students of both groups. The mean score for experimental group was (7.84) whereas it was (7.09) for the control group. The t-test value was (2.231) at p = 0.00, that is, a significant level at p ˂ 0.05 which indicated that there was a significant difference in performance of the experimental and the control group. That is, the students exposed to chemistry practical scored significantly higher in the achievement test than those not exposed. The study recommends that student should be taught using practical so as to improve in performance in chemistry.