RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN PROBLEM-SOLVING ABILITY AND ACHIEVEMENT IN PHYSICS AMONG SENIOR SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS IN OSUN STATE, NIGERIA

This study examined the problem-solving skills of students in relation to their achievement in Physics. An ex-post facto research design was adopted for the study. A sample of three hundred and two (302) students was drawn from a total population of fourteen thousand, three hundred and twenty two (14,322) senior secondary school II students using stratified random sampling technique. Two instruments: Test of Problem-Solving ability in Physics (TPSAP) and Test of Achievement in Physics (TAP) with reliability indices of 0.78 and 0.87 respectively, were used for the study. The results of the study revealed that there was significant relationship between students’ problem solving ability and achievement in Physics for all students (r = 0.54, p < 0.05), male students only (r = 0.56, p < 0.05), and female students only (r = 0.53, p < 0.05). It was concluded that problem-solving ability is a critical variable of students’ achievement in Physics. Backrground Science and technology have become an integral part of the world’s culture, which any country dare not overlook because of the fear of the risk of remaining backward among nations. This why scientific and technological breakthrough is usually the goal of any developing nation like Nigeria. The view has been expressed that for Nigeria to develop her science and technology, the foundation for developmental processes must be laid in the secondary schools (Ozoro, 1997). Otuka (1983) reported two noteworthy remarks made on the importance and relevance of Physics to technology. The remarks were: (i). ‘the measures for promoting Physics have turned out to be the sine qua-non for rapid acquisition of technological know-how in most countries of the world’ and (ii). ‘the technological potential of a country is more accurately gauged by the quality of its physics education than by any other single index such as the size of its population, for without physics, technological culture cannot really take root no matter the amount of imported technical expertise’. These statements point to the fact that for Nigeria to develop scientifically and technologically, the teaching and learning of physics should be encouraged especially when students first encounter the subject at the secondary school level. Physics is a science subject that deals with the fundamental constituents of the universe, the forces they exert on one another, and the effects of these forces. According to Weaver (1965), physics is the most basic of science fields and one with the lowest population of teachers and learners. This statement is still valid till date. Using data obtained from the American National Centre for Education Statistics, Layman (1983) noted that only 20 percent of graduating high school seniors had taken a physics course, and if 60 percent of the students who started high school graduate, then, about 12 percent of high school seniors in United States of America take a physics course during their schooling. In spite of the importance of physics to technological development, it appears that all is not well with students’ enrolment and achievement in the subject at the secondary school