Research Article

Academic Performance and Retention of Male and Female Secondary School Students Taught the Mole Concept Using the Just-In-Time Instructional Strategy in Zaria, Kaduna State, Nigeria

Kekere Habib1*, Charles Dalla1, Abubakar Abdulhafiz Adeiza2
1 Department of Science Education, Federal University of Lafia, Lafia, Nasarawa State, Nigeria
2 Department of Chemistry, Federal College of Education Okene, Kogi Sate, Nigeria
* Corresponding author: kekerehabib2@gmail.com
Published: Aug, 2026
DOI: 10.67203/jossme.2026.rc8aghaf
Pages: 199–207
Views: 7
Downloads: 2

Abstract

The Mole Concept is a fundamental but challenging area of secondary-school chemistry because it requires students to integrate conceptual understanding, mathematical reasoning, and problem-solving. This study examined differences in the academic performance and retention of male and female Senior Secondary II chemistry students taught the Mole Concept using the Just-In-Time Instructional Strategy (JiTT) in Zaria Education Zone, Kaduna State, Nigeria. A quantitative, one-group pretest–posttest–post-posttest design was adopted. The sample comprised 231 SS II chemistry students (128 males and 103 females) selected from a public co-educational secondary school after baseline comparison of five randomly selected schools. Data were collected using the 40-item Mole Concept Performance Test, which had a test–retest reliability coefficient of 0.70. Mean, standard deviation, and independent-samples t-test were used at the 0.05 significance level. No significant gender difference was found in academic performance, t(229) = 0.78, p = .439, d = 0.10. However, male students recorded significantly higher retention scores than female students, t(229) = 2.51, p = .013, d = 0.33. The findings suggest that JiTT can support comparable immediate performance across gender, while additional reinforcement and retrieval opportunities may be needed to strengthen long-term retention

Keywords

just-in-time instruction academic performance retention mole concept gender secondary school chemistry

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How to Cite

Habib, K., Dalla, C., & Adeiza, A. A. (2026). Academic Performance and Retention of Male and Female Secondary School Students Taught the Mole Concept Using the Just-In-Time Instructional Strategy in Zaria, Kaduna State, Nigeria. Journal of Studies in Science and Mathematics Education, 6(1), 199–207. https://doi.org/10.67203/jossme.2026.rc8aghaf

K. Habib, C. Dalla, and A. A. Adeiza, "Academic Performance and Retention of Male and Female Secondary School Students Taught the Mole Concept Using the Just-In-Time Instructional Strategy in Zaria, Kaduna State, Nigeria," Journal of Studies in Science and Mathematics Education, vol. 6, no. 1, pp. 199–207, August 2026. doi: 10.67203/jossme.2026.rc8aghaf

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