EFFECT OF PRACTICAL LABORATORY ACTIVITIES ON SENIOR SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS PERFORMANCE ON PROCESS SKILLS ACQUISITION IN BIOLOGY

Abstract

This study investigated the effect of biology practical laboratory activities on students academic achievement skills acquisition in Ofu Local Government Area of Kogi State, Nigeria. The design of the study was quasi-experimental design specifically the pre-test, post-test nonequivalent control group design. The sample used comprised 71 senior secondary two biology students in intact classes drawn from two government public schools. Both experimental and control groups were taught for eight weeks Experimental group was exposed to practical laboratory activities while control group was taught with lecture method. An instrument known as Science Process Skills Acquisition Test was used for data collection. The data collected were analyzed using mean and standard deviation while Research questions were answered and t-test statistics was used to test hypothesis. The results of the study showed that the experimental group had higher mean scores of 47.89 while the control group with a lower means score of 33.61. This shows that the experimental group exposed to practical laboratory skill activities in biology performed significantly better than the control group that were exposed to less practical laboratory activities and taught with lecture method. The findings also show that a practical laboratory activity was more effective in fostering students’ acquisition of science skill acquisition than the lecture method. It was recommended among others that biology teachers should be trained and retrained on the use of practical laboratory activities in senior secondary biology science lesson, which would enhance the student science process skills acquisition.