Effect of Previous Knowledge on Students’ Cognition in Some Content Areas in Chemistry
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Chemistry, cognition, content areas, previous KnowledgeAbstract
This study was undertaken to determine the effect of previous knowledge on students’ cognition on some content areas in chemistry. Reading, Comprehension monitoring, Summarizing, Questioning, Instruction, and Evaluation (RCSQIE) forms the component of the previous knowledge. The sample consists of 80 senior secondary 11 students from two schools in Jos, Plateau state, Nigeria. The design of the study was the pre – test post – test experimental research design. The instruments used were Fry readability model used to determine the readability level of the selected textbook and Science Reasoning Task used to determine students cognitive level. The experimental group was given a previous knowledge of the topic before lessons by allowing them to read the topic before classes while the control group had no previous knowledge. The cognitive levels of the students were determined before and after treatment. The findings showed that the experimental group students’ cognitive level improved with previous knowledge. It was concluded that previous knowledge improves students understanding of chemistry. It was therefore recommended that teachers’ should encourage students’ to read content before lessons.
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