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The study examined if frequency of practical work has effect on psychomotor skill acquisition of senior secondary two (SS2) Biology students. A sample of (N = 228) Students from three government-approved schools in Konshisha Local Government Area of Benue State Nigeria was used. Psychomotor Skill Assessment Test (PSAT) with reliability coefficient...
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... we reject the null hypothesis and conclude that there is a significant difference in the mean psychomotor skills acquisition among the students in the control, intermediate and the harmonized group. Table 3 further reveals that the p-value is less than 0.05 for each pair of the 3 strategies which implies that there is a significant difference between the mean score of students in the control and intermediate, control and harmonised as well as harmonised group and those in the intermediate group. Thus, Tables 2 and 3 reveal that with the pvalue less than 0.05 it shows that there is a significant difference among the students taught theory without practical with those taught theory with practical work. ...Citations
... Thus, as stated in the National Policy on Education (Federal Republic of Nigeria -FRN, 2013), the objectives of science education include to: develop positive attitudes in science and technology, acquire basic science and technology skills, apply scientific and technological knowledge and skills to meet individual and societal needs, take advantage of the career opportunities offered by science and technology and become equipped for future studies in them. However, practical Physics in Nigerian senior secondary schools is hardly handled well due to the somewhat state of laboratories; which could mar student's attitudes towards Physics (Achor & Agamber, 2013). Hence the need to study the state of Physics laboratories in secondary schools in Makurdi Metropolis. ...
The state of Physics laboratories in private and public secondary schools in Makurdi was studied using a descriptive survey design. Two research questions guided the study. A proportionate random sample of 32 (12-public + 20-private) was drawn from a population of 63 (24-public + 39-private) senior secondary schools in Makurdi Metropolis. The Physics Laboratory Checklist with a Cronbach alpha reliability value of 0.97 was used for data collection. Mean was used to answer research questions. The study's findings showed the poor state of Physics laboratories in public and a very poor state in private schools. It was concluded that this poor state cannot produce effective teaching and learning of practical Physics. It was recommended among others that the poor state of Physics laboratories be timely checked to avert students' low interest and negative attitude in/towards Physics besides poor performance.
... In the same vein, Achor and Agamber (2013) observed that science teachers in general and Biology teachers in particular hardly conduct practical work with students. In some schools from Senior Secondary one (SS1) to Senior Secondary three (SS3), only few practical works are carried out with students. ...
... The finding agrees with that of Akbas, Orhan and Eyduran (2010) who found that repeated measures or frequency of an activity have great effects on animal behaviour and in this case biology students. In the same vein, the finding also agrees with Achor and Agamber (2013) found out that frequent practical works significantly enhance students' psychomotor skill acquisition. ...
The study investigated if frequent practical work could enhance senior secondary two (SS2) students' motivation and self-efficacy belief in solving Biology related problem. A sample of 141 Senior Secondary 2 Students from three government-approved schools in Konshisha Local Government Area of Benue State Nigeria was used. The study adopted non-equivalent quasi-experimental research design. The instruments used for data collection was Biology Motivation Questionnaire (BMQ) and Biology Self-Efficacy Belief Scale (BSEBS) with the reliability value of 0.86 and 0.89 using Cronbach Alpha respectively. Two research questions and two null hypotheses guided the study. The research questions were answered using Mean and Standard Deviation scores while the hypotheses were tested at 0.05 level of significance using Analysis of Covariance. The study revealed that there is significant difference in the mean motivation scores among students in the harmonized, intermediate, and control groups [F 2, 135 =368.100, P<0.05].It was also found that there is significant difference in the mean self-efficacy belief scores among students in the harmonized, intermediate, and control groups[F 2, 135 =376.009, P<0.05].It is recommended among others that teachers should be encouraged to use frequent practical to enhance students' motivation and self-efficacy belief in solving Biology related problem. Workshops and seminars should be organized for biology teachers to keep them abreast of the practical work. This will enable them to plan and organize adequately for practical work.
