AN APPRAISAL OF THE DIFFICULTIES IN TEACHING BIOLOGY PRACTICAL IN SECONDARY SCHOOLS.
Biology as one of the science subject is bent in making one to be conversation with the environment he/she lives in appreciate the meaning of scientific life, to develop unbiased mind and to be intellectually homes with serve as ideal to the future citizen. Fortunately, it is a fact that Biology is the commonly chosen science subject of most secondary pupils are confirmed by the west Africa Examination council (WAEC) record.
The place of practical in teaching science cannot be over emphasized, little wonder why Daramola (2013), Opined that practical work has helped students in knowledge acquisition, like Ogunniyi (2007), advocated earlier that science, which would be taught in secondary schools, should be technologically oriented, which means to teach science with its practical application which strengthens the fact that in recent times, science teaching has taken a new trend Science belonged to the laboratory as cooking belongs to the kitchen and gardening to a garden. This is the state where science teaching is best done in the laboratories. Ndu (2010), also emphasized the practical teaching of science by saying that meaningful learning of science cannot be achieved without practical aspect of science stressing that science disciplines are not only the acquisition of facts but also embrace the processes. Woolnough (1994) also found that majority of secondary school teachers indicated that about 40% to 80% of the class time was spent in practical activities. Hodson (2002) in his own work, classified the reasons given by teachers for engaging in practical work into five major categories like to motivate learners by stimulating interest and enjoyment, teaching laboratory skills, to enhance learning of scientific knowledge, give insight into scientific methods, develop certain scientific methods, these coincides with the classification of practical work reported by Gott, Welford, and Foulds (1988) when they identified five types of practical works like, inquiry practical, investigative practical, skill practical, illustrative practical, and observational practical.
Although Abimbola, I.O, Dada, F.(2015) stated that some practical scientific experiences may be acquired in everyday life, the most important part of the experience is through practical work which gives the student the appreciation of the spirit of science. Therefore, there is no adequate substitute for retention of facts and which also makes learning more permanent because, practical work closely linked with theoretical work help to maximize opportunity to practice those scientific methods.
Practical activities in biology provide opportunities for students to actually do science as opposed to learning about science. Nzewi (2008) asserted that practical activities can be regarded as a strategy that could be adopted to make the task of a teacher (teaching) more real to the students as opposed to abstract or theoretical presentation of facts, principles and concepts of subject matters. Nzewi maintained that practical activities should engage the students in hands-on, mind-on activities, using varieties of instructional materials/equipment to drive the lesson home. Nwagbo (2008) stated that:
The use of practical activities (approach) to the teaching of biological concepts should therefore be a rule rather than an option to biology teachers, if we hope to produce students that would be able to acquire the necessary knowledge, skills and competence needed to meet the scientific and technological demands of the nation.
The search for a more effective approach for the teaching and learning of biology that will enhance the acquisition of process skills has persisted over the years. This is because, the acquisitions of science process skills are the bases for scientific inquiry and the development of intellectual skills and attitudes that are needed to learn concept
Acording to Nwagbo (2008), a number of factors have been identified as contributing to the non-acquisition of skills by secondary school students which invariably lead to poor performance and one of the factors is the teacher variable, that is, the teachers’ method of teaching. Furthermore, Okoli (2006) indicated that many science teachers prefer the traditional expository/lecture method of teaching that is, a teaching technique in which one person, the teacher, presents a spoken discourse on a particular subject and shy away from activity-oriented teaching methods which are student centered (such as inquiry method, discovery method, investigative laboratory approach). Nwagbo (2008) observed that such teacher-centred approach which places the teacher as the sole possessor of knowledge and the students as passive recipients of knowledge may not enhance achievement or promote positive attitude to biology. Apart from teaching methods, gender is also implicated in students’ achievement in science.
This project will concentrate on the teaching of Biology and the problem of teaching biology practical in selected secondary School in Akoko South East Local Government Area of Ondo State.
Statement Of Problems
Research Question
- What are the Difficulties facing teaching and learning of biology practical in senior secondary school
- Does teachers’ qualification has any effect on students’ performance in Biology practical?
- What is the attitude of students and teachers’ toward teaching of Biology practical?
- Is there enough equipment in the laboratory for effective teaching?
- What are the possible solution to the problem facing teaching and learning of practical biolgy
Purpose Of The Study
This research study carried out in order to know the major problems that are facing the teaching of biology practical.
The specific objective are
- To find out the problem students and teacher facing in teaching biology practical
- To determine if teachers’ qualification has any effect on students’ performance in Biology practical?
- To investigate the attitude of biology teacher towards Biology practical?
- To find out if there are enough equipment in the laboratory for effective teaching of biology?
- To profer solution to the problem facing teaching and learning of biology
Research Hypotheses
The following null hypotheses were tested at 0.05 level of significant
HO1: there is no significant difference on the effect of teachers’ qualification and student performance in practical biology
HO2: There is no significant difference between teachers’ attitude and students performance in practical biology
HO3: There is no significant difference between availability of laboratory equipment and students academic performance in practical biology
Significance Of The Study
This study is aimed at crating awareness on how vital biology is, not only to the student but also to the public at large with regards to health education. Improvement in science and technology medicine e.t.c.
It is also aimed at making the federal Government see the benefit of providing schools with proper and adequate laboratory, equipment e.t.c
This study will also help in making adequate preparation for the teaching of Biology practical
LIMITATION OF THE STUDY
Although, covering a large population would have given more accurate information, this study is based on only five selected secondary schools.
This is due to the fact the scope of the work to be covered is too vast compared to the time within the writer’s disposal. I do hope that the schools chosen on which the research is carried out, would serve as a guide to giving a picture of the type of information needed.
If a large population were worked on as all the different secondary Schools are expected to cover the same WAEC syllabus.
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