Students' Gender and Perceived Difficulty of Concepts in Secondary School Physics in Jos Metropolis, Nigeria

Abstract

This study employed survey research design to explore students' gender perceived difficulty of concepts in secondary school physics and their achievement in the concepts. The study which was carried out in Jos metropolis, Nigeria used a sample of 160 senior secondary school two (SS2) students (120 were male and 40 were female). Data were gathered using three 20 item instruments developed by the researchers: Physics Concepts Difficulty Questionnaire (PC-D10). Physics Concrete Concepts Achievement Test (PC-CAT) and Physics Abstracts Concepts Achievement Test (PA-CAD. PC-D10, PC-CAT and PA-CAT'S reliabilities were 0.72, 0.70 and 0.75 respectively. The t-test was employed to test the formulated hypotheses. Analyses indicated that while the level of perceived difficulty of concrete concepts in physics differ by gender, that for perceived difficulty of abstract concepts is insignificantly different. Furthermore, the academic achievement of both male and female students in difficult concrete concepts in physics was not significantly different (63.63% for male and 62. 13% for female). A significant difference, however, existed in the academic achievement of both gender when they were subjected to test in difficult abstract concepts in Physics (50.25% for male and 35.13% for female). Based on the findings, recommendations were proffered One of such is that female students' confidence and interest in physics should by boosted by providing them with remedial measures on numerical proficiency.