JONAED

Many factors contribute to successful teaching and learning of chemistry. One of such factors is the teacher classroom practices. This paper reports on the study conducted to investigate chemistry teachers’ classroom practices in terms of classroom climate and discourse and sense-making in chemistry classes. The study was conducted in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). 45 teachers and 601 students participated in the study. Two instruments were used for data collection, namely Teacher Classroom Observation Schedule (TCPOS) and Chemistry Achievement Test (CAT). Both instruments were developed by the research and validated by experts. The reliabilities of the instruments were found to be adequate for the purpose of data collection. While TCPOS had a reliability coefficient of 0.78, CAT had coefficient of 0.73. Data collected from study were analyzed using descriptive statistics and Pearson Product Moment correlation. The result showed that although positive and significant relationship exist between teacher classroom practices and achievement in chemistry, the teachers’ classroom practices were poor as regards to the tenets of the classroom practices investigated. Recommendations to solving the identified problems were made.