Effect of Polya's Problem-Solving Strategy on Academic Performance and Self-Efficacy in Thermochemistry among Secondary School Students, Funtua Zone, Katsina State, Nigeria

This study investigated the effect of Polya's problem-solving strategy on academic performance and self-efficacy in thermochemistry among senior secondary school chemistry students in Funtua Education Zone, Katsina State, Nigeria. A quasi-experimental pre-test, post-test non-equivalent control group design was adopted. The population comprised 4,250 Senior Secondary II (SSII) chemistry students across the zone. A sample of 180 students was drawn using multi-stage and purposive sampling techniques from two co-educational schools, assigned to experimental (Polya's strategy, n = 92) and control (conventional teaching method, n = 88) groups. Two validated instruments, the Thermochemistry Performance Test (TPT, r = 0.84) and the Thermochemistry Self-Efficacy Questionnaire (TSEQ, α = 0.88), were used for data collection. Data were analyzed using mean, standard deviation, and Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA) at the 0.05 level of significance. Findings revealed that students taught using Polya's strategy achieved significantly higher post-test academic performance scores than those taught conventionally, F(1, 177) = 42.15, p < .001, partial η² = .19 (Cohen's d = 2.23). Polya's strategy also significantly enhanced students' thermochemistry self-efficacy beliefs, F(1, 177) = 31.44, p < .001, partial η² = .15 (Cohen's d = 2.84). Both effect sizes are large by conventional standards, indicating that the advantage of Polya's strategy is educationally, and not merely statistically, meaningful. The study concludes that Polya's heuristic sequence is an effective pedagogical framework for reducing abstract bottlenecks in chemistry instruction and recommends its integration into mainstream science teacher-preparation curricula