1
Effect Of Biology Practical On The Secondary
School Students Academic Performance In
Biology (A Case Study Of Enugu North LGA Of
Enugu State)
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TABLE OF CONTENT
TITLE PAGE
i
CERTIFICATION PAGE
ii
APPROVAL PAGE
iii
DEDICATION
iv
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
v
ABSTRACT
vi
TABLE OF CONTENT
vii
CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION
1
1.1 BACKGROUND OF STUDY
1
1.2 STATEMENT OF PROBLEM
5
1.3 PURPOSE OF STUDY
7
1.4 SIGNIFICANCE OF STUDY
7
1.5 SCOE OF STUDY
8
1.6 RESEARCH QUESTIONS
9
CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW
10
2.0 INTRODUCTION
10
2.1 BIOLOGY PRACTICAL
10
2.2 BIOLOGY PRACTICAL AND EFFECTIVE TEACHING
14
3
2.3 BIOLOGY PRACTICAL AND EFFECTIVE LEARNING
20
2.4 BIOLOGY PRACTICALS AND ACADEMIC
PERFORMANCE
23
2.5 BIOLOGY PRACTICAL AND GENDER DIFFERENCE
26
2.6 EFFECT OF ENVIRONMENT OF BIOLOGY STUDENTS 29
2.7 SUMMARY
CHAPTER THREE:
30
METHODOLOGY
33
3.0 INTRODUCTION
33
3.1 DESIGN OF THE STUDY
33
3.2 AREA OF THE STUDY
33
3.3 POPULATION OF THE STUDY
34
3.4 SAMPLE AND SAMPLING TECHNIQUE
35
3.5 INSTRUMENT OF DATA COLLECTION
35
3.6 VALIDATION OF THE INSTRUMENT
37
3.7 RELIABILITY OF THE INSTRUMENT
37
3.8 ADMINISTRATION OF THE INSTRUMENT
38
3.9 METHOD OF DATA ANALYSIS
38
3.10 DECISION RULE
38
CHAPTER FOUR: DATA PRESENTATION AND ANALYSIS 44
4
4.0 INTRODUCTION
44
4.1 RESEARCH QUESTION 1
44
4.2 RESEARCH QUESTION 2
45
4.3 RESEARCH QUESTION 3
46
4.4 SUMMARY
47
CHAPTER FIVE: DISCUSSIONS, IMPLICATIONS,
CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
48
5.0 INTRODUCTION
48
5.1 DISCUSSION OF FINDINGS
48
5.1.1 DISCUSION OF RESEARCH QUESTION 1-3
48
5.2 EDUCATIONAL IMPLICATIONS
51
5.3 RECOMMENDATIONS
52
5.4 SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER STUDIES
54
5.5 SUMMARY
54
REFERENCES
56
APPENDICES
60
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CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background of Study
According to Oxford Advanced Learners Dictionary (2001)
“Effect” means (i) a change produced by an action or cause;
a result or an outcome; (ii) an impression created in the
mind of a spectator, read, etc while watching a play,
listening to music or looking at a painting. Effect as used in
the research topic can then be defined as a positive change
produced by an action, a desirable outcome or a result.
Science is the study of the natural things around us
(Modern Biology). Biology being a branch of science involves
the study of living and non-living things (Sarojini, 2001)
similarly, World Book Encyclopedia (1995), defined biology
as the scientific study of living things. Traditionally, biology
is divided into two branches viz; botany, the study of
animals. Some of the usefulness of biology were cited by
Sarojini (2001), as follows: it helps in (i) scientific research
and development of new tools and techniques which
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invariably improve the quality of our lives, (ii) finding
applications
in
medicine,
dentistry,
vetenary
science,
agriculture and horticulture; (iii) biotechnology which include
fields like genetic engineering and hybridoma technology (i)
dealing with ecological problems such as over population,
food shortage, erosion, pollution, disease etc. Practical
biology is the scientific study of the life and structure of
plants and animals and their relative environments in real or
experimental set-up rather than dwelling in the theory and
ideas (Opuh, Eze and Eze Magu; 2008). On its preamble to
the
international
senior
secondary
school
certificate
examination syllabus; West African Examination Council
WAEC (1998-2003), buttresses the need for biology practical
in teaching and learning of biology in the secondary schools.
The syllabus was designed to assess candidates in;
i.
Understanding of the structure and function of living
organisms as well as appreciation of nature.
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ii.
Acquisition of adequate laboratory and filed skills in
order to carry out and evaluate experiments and
projects in biology.
iii.
Acquisition of necessary scientific skills. Example
observing, classifying and interpreting biological data
etc. In previous edition WAEC Syllabus (1985),
stated that great importance should be attached to
experimental work and use of control experiments. It
was recommended that, whenever possible through
out the whole courses, candidates should be aware
of practical application of what is being studied.
From the foregoing, we can understand that biology
practical lesson is most essential for effective teaching and
learning of biology in secondary schools.
According to Oxford Dictionary (2000), “Effective” in
the context of the research topic means; having desired
effect or producing the intended result. Whereas, Akinpelu in
Aguokogbuo (2002) defined teaching as a deliberate effort
by a matured or experienced person to impact information,
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knowledge, skills and so on to immature or less experienced
person.
Consequently,
National
Teachers
Institute
NTI
(2000) course book on education, defined learning as the
acquisition of new knowledge, ideas, skills, value and
experience which enable the individual to modify or alter his
actions. It also involves the utilization of newly acquired
knowledge or experience as well. It further stated that
learning brings about permanent change in the learner.
The
National
Policy
on
Education
(2004)
defined
secondary education, as the education children receive after
primary education and before the tertiary stage. According
to
Post
Primary
School
Management
Board
(PPSMB)
statistical records PRS (2009). There are nine government
secondary schools in Enugu North Local Government Area.
Enugu North Local Government Area, is in Enugu East
Senatorial District of Enugu State, Nigeria. The area is
predominantly
an
urban
settlement
with
a
few
rural
communities. Some of the community in Enugu North L.G.A
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include
Enugu
Ngwo,
Iva-Valley,
Coal-Camp,
G.R.A,
Independent Layout, Ogui and Asata.
1.2 Statement of Problem
According to Nnamonu (2003), students perform poorly
in biology practicals leading to their failure in biology
examinations.
Similarly
WAEC
Chief
Examiners
(1993)
reported that performances of candidate in biology fell below
expectation.
The
report
discussed
the
candidate’s
weaknesses under the following sub-headings:
i.
Poor spelling’
ii.
Poor mathematical skills,
iii.
Poor deduction reasoning;
iv.
Poor observation
v.
Misinterpretation of question and
vi.
Poor knowledge of biology.
The examiners lamented that “there were many candidates
who could not answer correctly a single question in section
A. In most cases, they have wild guesses and quite
unrelated answer that were sometimes unbiological.
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Basical on the academic performance Obidiwe (1992)
stated that the objectives of practical biology are not being
realized to a satisfactory extent. He pointed out that the
poor academic performance were caused by; lack of wellequipped laboratory, lack of qualified science teachers,
limited time table hours, poor observation, poor drawing and
labeling, poor comparism of specimens, etc. This poor state
of affairs is disturbing.
This study therefore intends to examine the effect of
biology practical in effective academic performance of
students in Enugu North Local Government Area of Enugu
State. Specifically, one would like to ask, what effect has
biology practicals on academic performance of
i.
Senior secondary school students?
ii.
Female biology students?
iii.
Male biology students?
iv.
Students from urban area?
v.
Students from rural area?
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1.3 Purpose of the Study
Based on the background and problems of this study,
the main purpose underlying the project is to investigate the
effects of practical biology on the effective teaching and
learning of biology in senior secondary schools in Enugu
North Local Government Area. The study specifically seeks
to determine the effects of biology practicals on students
achievement in biology examination. We believe that the
result of the research will be of significance with the reforms
in Biology education.
1.4 Significance of the Study
The practical activities in biology are designed to help
students acquire basic scientific skills and improve their
performance and achievement as well. The study tends to
uncover the benefits of practical biology to the students,
parents, teachers, government and the entire society.
If the result of this research is properly utilized, it will:
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1. Promote the ideas that science is both a product and
process in students by arousing their interest in
practical work;
2. Motivate the parents to provide basic requirements of
practical lessons for their children;
3. Convince the biology teachers that practical lessons
are mostly essential for effective teaching and learning
of biology.
4. Make
the
government,
through
the
ministry
of
education to realize the need for provision of science
equipment to schools and posting of qualified biology
teachers to secondary schools, it is not the issue of
lack of trades master of non teaching has attained
professionalism and specialization;
5. Help the Nigerian society in their quest for improved
technology and industrialization.
1.5 Scope of the Study
The study is targeted on the senior secondary schools
in Enugu North Local Government Area Enugu State. The
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scope is also delimited on SSII biology students and the
following
contents
of
SSII
biology
scheme
of
work.
Digestive, reproductive and respiratory system is animals.
1.6 Research Questions
The following questions were formulated to guide the study:
i.
What effect has biology practicals on academic
performance of senior secondary school biology
students?
ii.
What effect has biology practicals on academic
performance of female students?
iii.
What effect has biology practicals on academic
performance of students from urban areas?
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