Comparative Effects of Learning Cycle Models and Students’ Academic Achievement in Chemistry in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State

Many students view Chemistry as complex and highly abstract, leading to consistently poor outcomes in challenging topics like electrolysis. Conventional instructional practices have done little to remedy these deficiencies, generating a demand for more participatory, inquiry-oriented methods. Therefore, this study evaluates the comparative effects of the 3E, 5E, and 7E learning-cycle models on student achievement in Chemistry to pinpoint the most successful pedagogical strategy. This inquiry specifically examined how various Learning Cycle Models affect students’ academic outcomes in Chemistry within the Uyo Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State. A quasi-experimental design was adopted, structured as a pretest–posttest approach involving non-equivalent control groups. The entire population consisted of all SS2 Chemistry students registered in the fourteen public secondary schools throughout the Uyo Local Government Area. Through the application of simple random sampling, six secondary schools were initially chosen from the fourteen public schools in the study area. Subsequently, a sample comprising 120 Chemistry students was drawn from three existing classes within the selected schools. Data were primarily gathered through the use of the Chemistry Achievement Test on Electrolysis (CATE), an instrument developed by the researcher. The test’s content validity was confirmed by two Chemistry specialists and one expert in measurement and evaluation. To establish reliability, the Kuder–Richardson 20 (KR-20) method was applied, which resulted in a coefficient of 0.86. For data analysis, descriptive statistics (mean and standard deviation) were used to address the research questions, and Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA) was employed to verify the hypotheses at the 0.05 significance level. The results showed a marked difference in students’ average achievement scores among the 3E, 5E, and 7E learning-cycle groups, with the 7E model demonstrating the best performance. Furthermore, gender was found to have no significant impact on student achievement in the electrolysis concept. Based on these findings, it was advised that Chemistry educators engage in workshops, seminars, and collaborative peer-learning sessions designed to improve their expertise in applying and sharing effective learning-cycle models.