Students anxiety towards the learning of Chemistry in some Nigerian secondary schools

The study was designed to find out students’ anxiety towards the learning of chemistry, identify the factors that cause the anxiety, examine the disposition of sex towards the learning of chemistry and suggest ways to increase their taste towards the learning of the subject. Data for the study was obtained by administering a questionnaire to 300 respondents involved in the study. The data obtained were analyzed using frequency counts, percentages and stanine test. The findings of the study revealed that the students, whether male or female, urban or rural based, show great anxiety towards the learning of chemistry and that the anxiety is higher in female and rural based students than male and urban based students. The cause of students’ anxiety as revealed by the study include: wide coverage of the syllabus, low awareness of career opportunities, their teacher and his teaching methods and lack of teaching aids / laboratory.   Key words:  Anxiety, learning, performance, disposition, perception, prospect.