London International Conference on Education (LICE-2013) Has Frequency of Practical Work anything to do with Psychomotor Skill Acquisition of Senior Secondary Biology Students? A Field Report

Abstract

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 of 0.95 was used to collect data. Mean and standard deviations were used to answer research question while analysis of covariance was used to analised data for testing the hypothesis at 0.05 level of significance. Results showed that there was significant difference in skills acquisition among the harmonized, intermediate and the control groups; F 2 , 221 = 111.978; p= .000<.05. It is recommended among others that teachers should endeavour to organize practical work for students as frequently as possible so as to develop in the students the practical skills required for final examination and other career developments in later life.

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Electronic copy available at: http://ssrn.com/abstract=2352755
London International Conference on Education (LICE-2013)
ISBN: 978-1-908320-16-2 Page 266
Has Frequency of Practical Work anything to do with Psychomotor Skill
Acquisition of Senior Secondary Biology Students? A Field Report
1Emmanuel E. Achor and 2Samuel T. Agamber
1. Department of Curriculum and Teaching, Benue State University, Makurdi,
Nigeria; nuelachor@yahoo.com
1. Department of Biology, College of Education, Oju, Benue State, Nigeria
Abstract
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 of
0.95 was used to collect data. Mean and standard
deviations were used to answer research question
while analysis of covariance was used to analised
data for testing the hypothesis at 0.05 level of
significance. Results showed that there was
significant difference in skills acquisition among the
harmonized, intermediate and the control groups;
F2,221 = 111.978; p= .000<.05. It is recommended
among others that teachers should endeavour to
organize practical work for students as frequently as
possible so as to develop in the students the practical
skills required for final examination and other career
developments in later life.
Keywords: Psychomotor skill, skill acquisition,
biology practical, frequency of practical, biology
teaching
1. Introduction
A number of research findings [1, 2 and 3]
show that several factors are responsible for the poor
achievement of students in practical biology and
other science subjects. They include non adherence
to instructions, crossing of guidelines in drawings,
labeling, handling of equipments like pipettes,
burettes for carrying out certain measurements. Other
factors are students’ poor understanding of the basic
concepts in biology [4], the use of traditional lecture
method approach by science teachers [5], students’
poor attitude towards practical work [6].
What worsens matter is the discovery that
practical skills in biology in the Nigerian secondary
schools are hardly measured at all by biology
teachers. The target is always the end result rather
than exposing the students to tasks to see them
display their practical skills [7]. The researchers
observed with dismay that what is happening
presently in Nigeria secondary schools especially in
the study area is that, biology teachers (science
teachers) hardly conduct practical work with
students. In some schools from SS1–SS3 only two
practical works are carried out with students. In some
others, students are privileged to have access to
practical work only when teachers have collected
specimens for Senior School Certificate
Examinations (SSCE) (West African Examination
Council, WAEC and National Examination Council,
NECO). Olajide and James [8] stated that if the
laboratory will serve its purpose successfully, then
students must be actively involved in doing,
thinking, and evolving solutions to problem, using
their own hands and heads. Chukwuneke [4] clearly
attributed students’ poor performance to the failure
in practical examination. Practical skills could be
acquired by students of biology as a result of
frequent and good practical lessons or experiments.
The more frequent an activity is learned and carried
out, the more permanent one is likely to master it.
Frequent and/or repetition of a response to a class or
situation helps mastery learning and could increase
the strength of the stimulus-response bond, hence a
saying that good practice makes perfect.
Bloom [9] identified three domains of
educational objectives that are equally important to
the learner which are cognitive, affective and
psychomotor domains. Despite the emphasis on all
these domains for human development (learner),
majority of assessments done in schools tend to
focus only on the cognitive domain to the neglect of
psychomotor and affective domains. Njelita [7] and
Nwagbo [10] express worry among other researchers
that psychomotor skills which are learned during
practical work are hardly taught to students. The
situation in most Nigeria secondary schools now is
that practical work is hardly conducted or mostly
ignored. In some schools, practical work is
conducted only once or twice in a whole term.
With emphasis on entrepreneurial skills
development in recent time, all school subjects are
being aligned to showcase skills that could be useful
to the individuals in later life. For instance, the
biology and physics curricula for secondary schools
in Nigeria (11, 12) clearly attests to this. While for
physics we have physics and technology newly
introduced, for biology we have emphasis being laid
on adequate laboratory and field skills, ability to
Electronic copy available at: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2352755

Electronic copy available at: http://ssrn.com/abstract=2352755
London International Conference on Education (LICE-2013)
ISBN: 978-1-908320-16-2 Page 267
apply knowledge to science and agric as well as
everyday life in nature of personal and community
health. Besides, the extent to which practical
biology could facilitate psychomotor skill acquisition
needs to be put on record in the study area as such
records are currently scarce. Therefore, the problem
of the study is how to address the issue of what the
effect of frequency of practical work could be on
psychomotor skill acquisition of biology students.
2. Research Question.
A research question was raised and answered in
this study:
To what extent does frequency of practical work
affect students’ skill acquisition in the control,
intermediate and the harmonized groups?
3. Hypothesis.
The following Null-hypothesis was tested at
0.05 significant level:
Ho: There is no significant difference in the
mean psychomotor skill acquisition among
the students in the control, intermediate and
the harmonized groups.
4. Methods and Materials.
The design for this study is pre-test, post-test-control
group quasi-experimental type. There was no
randomization of subjects so as not to disrupt school
organization. Therefore, intact classes were
randomly assigned to control and experimental
groups. The population of the study comprises of all
Senior Secondary 2 (SS2) biology students in
Konshisha local government area of Benue State
Nigeria. The researchers used SS2 students because
the students were expected to have covered many
topics in biology and therefore ready for practical.
There are 15 approved secondary schools in
Konshisha LGA, with a population of 771 SS2
students comprising 422 males and 349 females.
Total sample of 228 students was drawn for
this study from three randomly sampled schools out
of the six purposively selected schools that qualify
for the study (coverage of curriculum, availability of
laboratory, practical materials, being coeducational
school as well as graduate biology teacher). A
Psychomotor Skill Assessment Test (PSAT) was
used for data collection. PSAT was divided into two
sections (A and B). Section A sought the
respondents’ demographic information like sex, age
and class. Section B of PSAT was made up of 30
structured questions to which respondents were
expected to fill in the gap with the correct
word/phrase. The reason for adapting fill in the gap
method was to test the students’ abilities in the
biology practical works without room for guess.
PSAT was validated by two science
education lecturers and a lecturer in measurement
and evaluation all from Benue State University,
Makurdi, Nigeria. The instrument was trial tested on
a small sample of 30 students/respondents from two
secondary schools which were not part of the study
sample but within the same area to prevent its
influence on the main study. The reliability
coefficient r = 0.95 for PSAT using Kuder-
Richardson formula (K-R20) for PSAT.
All the 228 respondents (students) were
administered with the Psychomotor Skill Assessment
Test (PSAT) developed by the researchers with
assistance of biology teachers in the participating
schools. Instructions on how to respond to the items
were given to ensure proper filling. The items were
retrieved from the respondents immediately after
filling them.
The biology teachers in the selected schools
(research assistants) were given adequate training by
the researchers for three weeks to enable them
understand the procedure and requirements expected
from students in the course of the practical work and
the purpose of the research as well as details of the
lesson plan prepared by the researcher before the
treatment. After the pre-test in the first week, the
treatment was administered to the experimental
groups which lasted for 6 weeks after which a post-
test was administered to the various groups which
are the control, intermediate and harmonized groups.
Control group was taught using the traditional lecture
method. Post-test was carried out on the 6th (last)
week of the exercise.
The control group was taught using the
traditional lecture method spiced with
demonstrations but without any practical work for
the 6 weeks. The intermediate group was again
taught using traditional lecture method spiced with
demonstrations along with 2 practical activities
within the 6 weeks. The harmonized group was
equally taught using traditional lecture method
spiced with practical for every lesion for the 6
weeks.
5. Results.
The research question was analyzed using mean
and standard deviation of the student’s scores.
Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA) was used to test
the hypothesis at 0.05 significant level. The Analysis
of Covariance (ANCOVA) is most appropriate for
analysing data of this nature because it removes bias
which may result from using intact groups (classes)
whose equivalence on certain measures may not have
been determined. ANCOVA takes care of all the
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London International Conference on Education (LICE-2013)
ISBN: 978-1-908320-16-2 Page 268
covariates that may make the groups of students not
to be homogenous or equivalent.
Research question 1
To what extent does frequency of practical
work affect students’ skill acquisition in the control,
intermediate and the harmonized groups?
Table 1 shows that the mean difference
scores of students in the control group (taught
without practical) was 3.784; students in the
intermediate group had mean difference scores of
8.308 while that of students in the harmonized group
was found to be 14.205. Therefore, the mean
difference score of students in the harmonized group
was higher than those in the intermediate group with
a difference of 5.897 and 4.523 between the
intermediate group and the control group. The
increasing order in which students acquired
psychomotor skills is control group, intermediate
group and harmonized group
Table 1
Mean and standard deviation of pre-PSAT and post-
PSAT of control, intermediate and harmonized
groups
Teaching
Group
Pre
PSAT
Post
PSAT
Mean
diff
Control group
X
7.303
11.088
3.784
(Taught
N
79
79
Without
practical)
SD
2.770
4.750
Intermediate
group (taught
X
7.308
15.617
8.308
with 2
N
81
81
practical in
6 weeks)
SD
2.390
4.578
Harmonized
group
X
8.014
22.220
14.205
(taught with
N
68
68
Practical in
every lesson in
6 weeks)
SD
3.063
3.843
.Hypothesis1
HO1There is no significant difference in the
mean psychomotor skills acquisition among
the students in the control, intermediate and
the harmonized groups.
From Table 2, the ANCOVA was
significant, F 2, 221 = 111.978, p = .000<0.05.
Therefore 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 p-
value 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. Also, a significant mean
difference exists among those in the harmonized,
intermediate and the control groups.
Table 2
Tests of between –subjects for Students’ mean
psychomotor skill acquisition among the control,
intermediate and the harmonized groups
Source
Type III
sum of
squares
Df
Mean
square
F
Sig
Correcte
d model
4671.988
6
778.665
39.983
.000
Intercept
5578.362
1
5578.362
286.439
.000
Pre
PSAT
75.087
1
75.087
3.856
.051
Teaching
Mode
4361.528
2
2180.764
111.978
.000
Gender
14.299
1
14.299
.734
.392
Teaching
mode
and
gender
40.389
2
20.194
1.037
.356
Error
4303.942
221
19.475
Total
67472.00
228
Correcte
d Total
8975.930
227
a. R Squared = .521 (Adjusted R Squared = .507)
Table 3
Pair wise comparisons for the mean difference
among the students taught with three modes
(I)
Teaching
group
(J)
Teaching
group
Mean diff
(I-J)
Stand
error
Sig
control
class
(teaching
without
practical)
intermedia
te group
Intermedi
ate group
Harmoni
zed
group
Harmoni
zed
group
-4.517
-10.970.
-6.453.
.698
.734
.730
.000
.000
.000
The mean difference is significant at the .05 level.
6. Discussion of Findings.
The findings have revealed first, that students in
the harmonized group that carried out the practical
work more frequently scored higher in skill
acquisition test than their counterparts in the other
groups (see Table 1). Secondly, it was also found
that a significant difference exists among the mean
psychomotor skill acquisition of students in the
control, intermediate and the harmonized groups.
Students that were taught each lesson along with
practical mix with theory had a mean score
difference of 14.205, those taught theory with two
practical works, 8.308 and 3.784 for those taught
only theory and without practical work. This shows
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London International Conference on Education (LICE-2013)
ISBN: 978-1-908320-16-2 Page 269
that as a result of practical activities, students in the
harmonized group with frequent practical work
carried out developed skills and so performed better
in the skill tests than those in the intermediate group
while those in the control group performed
significantly poor compared to any other group in the
study. This finding agrees with that of Nwagbo [10]
who also found that students who were frequently
taught theory and practical performed significantly
better than those taught using lecture method only.
This finding is somehow striking as PSAT was
more on ability to follow instruction, use hands,
sport difference, manipulate and link up practical
experience to new situations rather than usual
biology practical with emphasis on drawing,
identification, dissection and adherence to
instruction. By implication, doing all that is required
in biology practical at SSCE holds the promise of
improving students’ skill of observation, orderliness,
use of hands, manipulative, link up practical
experience to prediction or speculate and or create
new ideas. The corollary is that students who have
been satisfactorily exposed to biology practical while
in school could become creative, imaginative and
innovative in later life which is the essence of
entrepreneurship education.
7. Conclusions and Recommendation
Based on the findings it was concluded that
students taught biology theory along with practical
activities for every lesson for the 6 weeks acquired
more practical skills than those taught along with
only two practicals and those without practical at all.
This implies that the system of teaching theory with
practical work to students as frequently as possible is
more rewarding to students in terms of skill
acquisition.
Based on the findings and conclusions, the
following recommendations were made:
1. Since students in the harmonized group are
found to have the highest mean difference
in performance in PSAT, teachers should
imbibe it and use it for skill development.
2. Ministries of education should ensure that
every secondary school have at least one
multipurpose science laboratory before
being given approval and or grant aided to
ensure that practical work takes place when
required.
3. School proprietors, principals and the
relevant school authorities should ensure
4. that biology teachers carryout the practical
work as frequently as possible.
5. Workshops and seminars should be
organized for in-service biology teachers to
keep them abreast of practical work. This
will enable them to plan and organize
adequately for practical work.
8. References.
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international strategies on student’s achievement
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in Enugu State. Journal of Science Teachers
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(182), 94-100.
3. B. B. Akpan. Science Teachers Association of
Nigeria: Nigeria and the future of Science
Education. Ibadan: Oluseyi Press Ltd., 2008.
4. B. U. Chukwuneke. Problems and prospects of
repositioning science education in post primary
schools in Nigeria for rapid National
Development. Multidisciplinary Journal of
Research Development, 2006, 7 (1), 16-22.
5. F. O Ndioho, O.F. Practical approaches to the
teaching of respiration. Lagos: Antoine Concern
Publications.2005
6. C. A. Orokpo. Attitude of secondary school
students towards practical Work and their
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