CHAPTER ONE

GENERAL INTRODUCTION

Introduction

The Impact of practical’s activities on students’ academic achievement has been a crucial debate in the society over the years. Overall, practical work has become a well-established and integrated component of secondary school science (Poppe, Markic and Eilks, 2010). Using well designed specialized training, practical work in biology enable learners to investigate, evaluate testable scientific concepts hands on and develop scientific skills.

It allows learners through concepts, theories and models to improve their knowledge base and understanding of the world around them (Millar and Abrahams, 2009). Students, thus, encounter the fundamental and incorporated procedures of science (Padilla, 1990). Numerous researchers have highlighted that practical work is enjoyable for learners and enhance their effectiveness in learning science (Jenkins and Nelson, 2005; Hodson, 1993)

This chapter consists of an introduction which gives the definition of Biology base on the opinions of different researchers and the importance of practical’s in the life of learners. It also entails the problem which is to be studied in order to get solutions or make conclusions at the end of the study. Furthermore, the objectives of the study (General and Specific) are also included to guide the study.

Inclusively, the hypotheses of the studies, the significance of the study which explains how beneficial the study will be to the society, teachers, biology curricula, and students. The scope (Geographical and content) of the study which explains the boundary of the study and the content to be studied is also included. This is followed by an operational definition of terms, in which key words used in the study are defined or explained for ease of understanding.

Background of the Study

Historical Background

By the mid-19th century, British writers and philosophers had articulated a view of science as an inductive process (Mill, 1843; Whewell, 1840, 1858). They believed that scientists engaged in painstaking observation of nature to identify and accumulate facts, and only very cautiously did they draw conclusions from these facts to propose new theories.

British and American scientists portrayed the newest scientific discoveries such as the laws of thermodynamics and Darwin’s theory of evolution to an increasingly interested public as certain knowledge derived through well-established inductive methods. However, scientists and teachers made few efforts to teach students about these methods. Few students were allowed into these laboratories, which were reserved for scientists’ research, although some apparatus from the laboratory was occasionally brought into the lecture room for demonstrations.

During the 1880s, the situation changed rapidly. Influenced by the example of chemist Justus von Liebig in Germany, leading American universities embraced the German model. In this model, laboratories played a central role as the setting for faculty research and for advanced scientific study by students.

Johns Hopkins University established itself as a research institution with student laboratories. Other leading colleges and universities followed suit, and high schools that were just being established as educational institutions soon began to create student science laboratories as well.

The primary goal of these early high school laboratories was to prepare students for higher science education in college and university laboratories. The National Education Association produced an influential report noting the “absolute necessity of laboratory work” in the high school science curriculum (National Education Association, 1894) in order to prepare students for undergraduate science studies.

As demand for secondary school teachers trained in laboratory methods grew, colleges and universities began offering summer laboratory courses for teachers. In 1895, a zoology professor at Brown University described “large and increasing attendance at our summer schools,” which focused on the dissection of cats and other animals (Bump, 1895).

Between 1890 and 1910, as U.S. high schools expanded rapidly to absorb a huge influx of new students, a backlash began to develop against the prevailing approach to laboratory education. In a 1901 lecture at the New England Association of College and Secondary Schools, G. Stanley Hall, one of the first American psychologists, criticized high school biology education based on the Harvard list, saying that “boys want more dynamic biology” (Hall, 1901).

By 1910, a clear tension had emerged between those emphasizing laboratory experiments and reformers favoring an emphasis on interesting, practical science content in high school science. However, the focus on content also led to problems, as students became overwhelmed with “interesting” facts. New York’s experience illustrates this tension. In 1890, the New York State Regents exam included questions asking students to design experiments (Champagne and Shiland, 2004).

In 1905, the state introduced a new syllabus of physics topics. The content to be covered was so extensive that, over the course of a year, an average of half an hour could be devoted to each topic, virtually eliminating the possibility of including laboratory activities (Matthews, 1994). An outcry to return to more experimentation in science courses resulted, and in 1910 New York State instituted a requirement for 30 science laboratory sessions taking double periods in the syllabus for Regents science courses (courses preparing students for the New York State Regents examinations) (Champagne and Shiland, 2004).

In an influential speech to the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) in 1909, philosopher and educator John Dewey proposed a solution to the tension between advocates for more laboratory experimentation and advocates for science education emphasizing practical content. While criticizing science teaching focused strictly on covering large amounts of known content, Dewey also pointed to the flaws in rigid laboratory exercises: “A student may acquire laboratory methods as so much isolated and final stuff, just as he may so acquire material from a textbook.

In 1910, Dewey wrote a short textbook aimed at helping teachers deal with students as individuals despite rapidly growing enrollments. He analyzed what he called “a complete act of thought,” including five steps: (1) a felt difficulty, (2) its location and definition, (3) suggestion of possible solution, (4) development by reasoning of the bearing of the suggestion, and (5) further observation and experiment leading to its acceptance or rejection (Dewey, 1910a, pp. 68-78). Educators quickly misinterpreted these five steps as a description of the scientific method that could be applied to practical problems.

In 1918, William Kilpatrick of Teachers College published a seminal article on the “project method,” which used Dewey’s five steps to address problems of everyday life. The article was eventually reprinted 60,000 times as reformers embraced the idea of engaging students with practical problems, while at the same time teaching them about what were seen as the methods of science (Rudolph, 2005).

During the 1920s, reform-minded teachers struggled to use the project method. Faced with ever-larger classes and state requirements for coverage of science content, they began to look for lists of specific projects that students could undertake, the procedures they could use, and the expected results. Soon, standardized lists of projects were published, and students who had previously been freed from rigid laboratory procedures were now engaged in rigid, specified projects, leading one writer to observe, “The project is little more than a new cloak for the inductive method” (Downing, 1919).

Despite these unresolved tensions, laboratory education had become firmly established, and growing numbers of future high school teachers were instructed in teaching laboratory activities. Over the following decades, high school science education (including laboratory education) increasingly emphasized practical goals and the benefits of science in everyday life. During World War II, as scientists focused on federally funded research programs aimed at defense and public health needs, high school science education also emphasized applications of scientific knowledge (Rudolph, 2002).

Conceptual Background

Biology is a practical science; high quality, appropriate biological experiments and investigations are the keys to enhance learning, clarification and consolidation of theory. Biology as one of the science subject is defined as the study of life and the structure of living things.

It concerns itself with the study of the structure, behavior, distribution, the origin of plants and animals and their relationships with their environments. Man lives in a novel world, there are animals, plants, oceans mountains, deserts, and so on, all round him. Being a curious been, man takes delight in exploring his world; he strives to investigate all matter around him: their origin, nature, characteristics and other features. He asks a lot of questions and in his search for answers to such questions, he needs to be systematic and unbiased. To achieve his goal, he engages in experimentation and observation, which are fundamental to science .Just as other science subjects; biology in secondary schools is composed of practical activities. In all the sciences, biology gears towards simplifying the theoretical content, so as to enhance effective instruction and learning of the subject.

Practical work is an important element in the teaching of biology in secondary school. Through laboratory work or doing experiments or projects, students tend  to develop their process skills, problem solving skills, manipulative skills as well as scientific attitudes. In science education, practical activities are considerably important because they provide the opportunity for students to perform various hands-on activities. Also, many researchers believe that practical work helps promote conceptual change (Demircioglu, 2003; Ozmen et al, 2009) and is motivating and exciting for students (Markow & Lonning, 1998; Hart et al, 2000). Practical work stimulates learner interest in the science subject they are studying.

When students are made to engage personally in practical activities, knowledge obtained and experience promotes long term memory that theory alone cannot do. For this reason, it becomes obvious that a learner acquires more in any science lesson, if given the opportunity to do activities, ranging from manipulating apparatus, classifying, designing, experimenting, hypothesizing to make inferences and verifying results.

Hence, there is an urgent and serious need to justify the impact of practical in the teaching/learning of biology in secondary schools and their effects on students’ performance.

In all nation of the world science and mathematics are given first attention due to numerous benefits derived from them (Ekeh, 2003). Science has been viewed as an instrument that can aid development in many countries. It plays important and dominant roles in spearheading technological advancement, promoting national wealth, improve health, and accelerate industrialization (Validya, 2003).

Equips student with knowledge in areas such as; the nature of living things, diseases, pollution, food, chemicals which when applied to the society improves man standard of living. Biology has been identified as a very important science subject and its importance in scientific and technological development of any nation has been widely reported (Adesoji, and Olatunbosun, 2008).

The current shift in emphasis in science curricula objective reflecting student centered process approach to science is a radical departure from the traditional emphasis on the teacher-centered product approach. However, research reports show that contrary to the demands of the new science curricula in Cameroon, science teachers still decide to split science instruction into theory and practical (Njoku, 2004; Uzoechi, 2004).

According to Ekpo (1999), any effort to separate science into practical and theory lessons amount to perpetuating a dichotomy which is antithesis of true science. Study reports show that such attempts have resulted in most schools in Cameroon shifting practical work until the second term of the final year (Ekpo, 1999; Galadina, 2003). The results have been students’ persistent poor performance in Biology and science in general.

According to Okebukola (1987), the main aim of practical work in Biology is to make accurate observation and description of Biological phenomenon; develop specific manipulation skills; practice seeing problem relating to Biology and seeking ways to solve them; develop a logical reasoning method of thought; develop self-reliance; verify principles and facts already learnt; develop certain disciplined techniques; develop a critical attitude; and be able to comprehend and carry out instruction (Okebukola, 1987).

However, most of the teachers in developing countries consider practical work simply as a means of confirm scientific knowledge (Monk, Fairbrither and Dillan, 1993) and gives little attention to the development of practical skills in students and their assessment. Gender is a cultural construct that distinguishes the roles, behavior, mental and emotion characteristics between females and males developed by a society. Umoh (2003) defines gender as a psychological term used in describing behaviors and attributes expected of individuals on the basis of being born as either male or female.

Adeboyel (1999) stated that the understanding of environmental concepts improves student problem-solving abilities and develop a healthier attitude towards Biology. As such, it is imperative that enhanced performance in Biology would be fostered by good background knowledge of the environment. Hence student with poor knowledge of their environment cannot solve problems in Biology (Krammer, 2005; Onwioduokit, 1986).

Bayliss and Watts (2002), in explaining why the environment form the basis for the study of Biology maintains that the environment is necessary in enabling biology students draw useful conclusion about the nature of living things, the relationships that exist between organisms of the same or different species, balances that occur within an ecosystem and other Biology concept that requires computation and calculations.

Kempa (1986) reported that the development of practical skills and abilities must form an integral part of the set of educational goals that is to be associated with science education. That is why practical work has traditionally played a very important part in all science education programs right from secondary school to tertiary institutions. This has manifested itself in the provisions of laboratories and other facilities required for practical work in science subjects in all our educational institutions.

In Biology teaching, the laboratories, the environment, are unique forum for the pursuit of the above aims. The expectation is that during practical activities, students are provided with experiences predisposing them towards acquisition of scientific process skills needed for the collection and discovery of new information. Therefore, the need to equip students with process skills during practical teaching becomes evident.

Yanger, Engen and Snifer (1969) suggests that the laboratory can provide an excellent opportunity for the teaching of technical skills. They found that students in “discussion” setting were able to learn some laboratory oriented intellectual skills as efficiently as students in laboratory settings, but they were unable to perform competently on a range of technical skills.

Students offering Biology are required to do two theory papers and one practical consisting of four compulsory questions. In which candidates are given full instructions for carrying out an experiment which may involve, for example, measuring the volume of gas liberated during a reaction, determining the rate of respiration in some plants, dissecting a mammal and so on. Such experiments involve manipulation of simple laboratory apparatus and may involve weighing. All students are expected to be familiar with the use of electronic balances.

Since this disparity is peculiar to science as a whole, this study aims at investigating the effect of practical on student academic performance in science Biology specifically.

Statement of the Problem

The laboratory has been identified as the heart of a good scientific program which allows students in the school to have experience which are consistent to the goals of scientific literacy. Practical biology constitutes a major part in biology education, if it is not taught properly, the education of students in the other science subjects will be affected negatively.

Therefore secondary schools require properly equipped and functional laboratories, well trained biology teachers with knowledge of practical activities, and adequate practical’s equipment. When students are taught Biology theoretically, without the practical aspects done in the laboratory, the student will not learn properly.

The implication of this means that the role of practical is on the academic performance of students in Biology is being ignored. Consequently, the students will; Lack scientific attitude, problem solving skills, scientific inquiry skills, acquisition of scientific skills, scientific research environment, Learn Biology poorly and Perform poorly in practical Biology in internal and external examinations.

Experts have attributed this poor outcome to lack of experienced biology teachers to carry out practicals in school. Due to the lack of experience of these teachers having very few years of teaching biology in secondary schools and carrying out accurate biology practical’s, performance of the students is affected. It is based on this backdrop that the study is carried to investigate the impact of biology practical activities on the academic performance of secondary school students in the Buea municipality.

Objectives of the Study

 General Objective of the Study

The main objective underlying the project is to investigate the effects of biology practical’s activities on academic achievement of student in secondary school in Buea municipality.

Specific Objectives of the Study

1. To examine the impact of dissection on academic achievement of student in secondary school in Buea municipality.
2. To examine the impact of drawing on academic achievement of student in secondary school in Buea municipality.
3. To investigate the extent to which observation affects academic achievement of student in secondary school in Buea municipality.
4. To examine the effect of making of solution on academic achievement of student in secondary school in Buea municipality.

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