The Influence of Laboratory Method on Students Academic Achievement in Basic Science and Technology and Science in General
CHAPTER ONE
OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY
The objectives of the study are;
- to determine the influence of laboratory method on students’ achievement
- To compare academic achievement of male and female Basic Science and Technology Students
- To compare the academic achievement of students taught the concept of Heat Flow using lecture method and laboratory method.
CHAPTER TWO
REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
NATURE OF BASIC SCIENCE CURRICULUM
Basic science, formerly known as integrated science, is the first form of science a child comes across at the secondary school level; hence basic science prepares students at the junior secondary school level for the study of core science subjects (physics, chemistry, biology) at the senior secondary school level (olarewaju, 1994). This implies that for a student to be able to study single science subjects at the senior secondary school level successfully, such student had to be well grounded in basic science at the junior secondary school level. In view of this, basic science is given great emphasis in the junior secondary school curriculum. Basic science involves helping children develop basic scientific ideas and understanding, which will enable them to explore and investigate their world. The development of children’s ideas is central to science education. Young children come to science activities with ideas that they have formed from previous experiences. They use these ideas to make sense of the things that happen around them. These ideas tend to be limited to concrete, observable features and may be inconsistent with the formal theories of conventional science. The focus of basic science education is on helping children to modify their ideas and to develop more scientific understandings as well as planning basic science lessons on the basis of knowledge, skills and understanding, it is essential to consider the children’s ideas as the starting points for science activities and education to change these alternative ideas or misconceptions. Thus, basic science may be seen as the active process of the personal construction of meaning and understanding. Children need to practice science to engage in rich scientific inquiry, (Buck, Bratz, Towns, 2008). The dynamic nature of man and his environment stipulates that change is the only thing that is constant in life. The call on curriculum experts in conjunction with education ministry for constant medication, review 13 and change in our curriculum content is to ensure according to (Selvi, 2005) that future expectations are met with, since today’s aims may not meet tomorrow needs. Science as a fast developing discipline may incite changes and development in other discipline. For this reason, the National Policy on Education (2008) asserts that primary science as Basic science is expected among others, to reflect on the distinctive practical and investigative features of enquiry skills. To achieve this, FRN (Federal Republic of Nigeria) asserts that Nigeria will have a new programme assigned to be both functional and practical which would structurally and qualitatively be different from the existing theoretical and rhetoric system.
CHAPTER THREE
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Research design
The researcher used descriptive research survey design in building up this project work the choice of this research design was considered appropriate because of its advantages of identifying attributes of a large population from a group of individuals. The design was suitable for the study as the study sought to the influence of laboratory method on student’s academic achievement in basic science and technology and science in general
Sources of data collection
Data were collected from two main sources namely:
(i)Primary source and
(ii)Secondary source
Primary source:
These are materials of statistical investigation which were collected by the research for a particular purpose. They can be obtained through a survey, observation questionnaire or as experiment; the researcher has adopted the questionnaire method for this study.
Secondary source:
These are data from textbook Journal handset etc. they arise as byproducts of the same other purposes. Example administration, various other unpublished works and write ups were also used.
Population of the study
Population of a study is a group of persons or aggregate items, things the researcher is interested in getting information on the influence of laboratory method on student’s academic achievement in basic science and technology and science in general. 200 staff of selected secondary schools in Portharcourt, Rivers state were selected randomly by the researcher as the population of the study.
CHAPTER FOUR
PRESENTATION ANALYSIS INTERPRETATION OF DATA
Introduction
Efforts will be made at this stage to present, analyze and interpret the data collected during the field survey. This presentation will be based on the responses from the completed questionnaires. The result of this exercise will be summarized in tabular forms for easy references and analysis. It will also show answers to questions relating to the research questions for this research study. The researcher employed simple percentage in the analysis.
DATA ANALYSIS
The data collected from the respondents were analyzed in tabular form with simple percentage for easy understanding.
A total of 133(one hundred and thirty three) questionnaires were distributed and 133 questionnaires were returned.
CHAPTER FIVE
SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION
Introduction
It is important to ascertain that the objective of this study was to ascertain the influence of laboratory method on students academic achievement in basic science and technology and science in general. In the preceding chapter, the relevant data collected for this study were presented, critically analyzed and appropriate interpretation given. In this chapter, certain recommendations made which in the opinion of the researcher will be of benefits in addressing the challenges of laboratory method on student’s academic achievement in basic science and technology and science in general
Summary
This study was on the influence of laboratory method on students academic achievement in basic science and technology and science in general. Three objectives were raised which included: to determine the influence of laboratory method on students’ achievement, to compare academic achievement of male and female Basic Science and Technology Students, to compare the academic achievement of students taught the concept of Heat Flow using lecture method and laboratory method. In line with these objectives, two research hypotheses were formulated and two null hypotheses were posited. The total population for the study is 200 staff of selected secondary schools in Portharcourt, Rivers state. The researcher used questionnaires as the instrument for the data collection. Descriptive Survey research design was adopted for this study. A total of 133 respondents made principals, vice principal administration, senior staff and junior staffs were used for the study. The data collected were presented in tables and analyzed using simple percentages and frequencies
Conclusion
There is clear indication that the science laboratory method has significant effect on students’ academic achievement in science subjects. There exists a significant difference between students’ preferred and actual science laboratory method in terms of open-endedness, student cohesiveness, material environment, integration and rule clarity respectively in order of magnitude in favour of preferred science laboratory environment. Also, both the teacher and students perceived the present status of science laboratory in the same way
Recommendation
Adequate laboratory equipment’s must be provided if the teaching and academic performance of students offering science subjects in schools must be enhance.
REFERENCES
- Benedict, O. (1994). Effects of laboratory facilities on students’ academic performance in Biology students. Journal of Professional Educators, 3, 95-96
- Brewton, C. C. (2000). Gender equality in science, technology and Mathematics education. Journal of Science Teachers’ Association of Nigeria, 42(2), 37-39.
- Chukwuemaka, P. C. (2008). Efficacy of utilization of laboratory resources on the acquisition of science process skills among primary science pupils. Paper presented at the 49thannual Science Teachers’ conference STAN, Nsugbe, August 3-5.
- Edet, U. B. (2008). Effect of environmental resources on students’ academic performance in Biology. 49thannual conference of Science Teachers’ Association of Nigeria, Nsugbe, August 26.
- Etiubon, R. U. (2010). Effect of instructional strategies and students’ variables on their cognition of world economic meltdown. Journal of Science Teachers’ Association of Nigeria, 52, 413-418.
- Igboabuchi, A. (2010). Biology laboratory facilities as a strategy for salvaging dwindling economy. Journal of Science Teachers’ Association of Nigeria, 42, 251-254.
