Abstract

This study investigated what influence the presence or absence of a food and nutrition laboratory in an academic institution has on students’ performance in the subject food and nutrition. The descriptive survey design was used in the study.

As a result two hypothesis and two objectives were formulated to guide the study. Five (05) interview questions were formulated and a total of 37 students from three (03) different schools were interviewed. Data was analyzed by the thematic approach using the code grounding-quotation table.

The results revealed that the presence and the use of a food and nutrition laboratory has a direct positive influence on students achievement in food and nutrition whereas its absence in an institution has a negative influence on students achievement in food and nutrition. Based on the findings, it was recommended that that the government through the ministry of education should build and equip more food and nutrition laboratories in all government secondary schools and also ensure that lay private and confessional schools offering the subject food and nutrition must have a standard, well-equipped and functional food and nutrition laboratory.

Furthermore, suggestions for further research studies were offered like to investigate the impact of the adequate and inadequate use of a science laboratory has on students’ performance in practical science subjects.

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

This chapter will be examined under the following headings; background of the study,

statement of the problem objectives of the study, objectives of the study, research questions, Hypothesis, scope of the study, significance of the study and operational definition of terms.

Background To The Study

Food and nutrition is an applied science and it cats across both arts and science disciplines. This discipline is suitable for both the need of boys and girls for future development. The syllabus includes a study of food relation to current dietary theories and the effects of modern technology on good preparation. It allows students to acquire knowledge, skills and competence to support a life-long living in a culturally diverse society.

Ordinary level 540 Food and nutrition is a scientific and social discipline combining theory and practice designed to equip the students with knowledge, comprehension and application with the basic principles of food and nutrition practice. The skills acquired will enable them to be productive in nutrition practice, as well as develop their carrier.

The concept of food and nutrition came after a U.N report on “the problem of food and nutrition in Africa, 1970s-1980s’, this report described the situation as a deteriorating tragedy with protein energy malnutrition (PEM). That is children weighing less than 801. (i.e. their body weight is less compared to their age) of standard weight for age, affecting about 3% (i.e this situation affects 3 out of every 100 child examined) of children under the age of 5 years. The report discussed many factors regarding hunger and malnutrition. Recommendations of this report stipulated that education and advocacy and this should receive the top priority all over all continents.

As such, over the years past in Cameroon, the government has taken the following steps to ensure that all schools have a food and nutrition laboratory, teachers and inputs to ensure effective teaching and learning of food and nutrition.

1. The government has come up with an elaborate teaching syllabus for food and nutrition that covers a large content, emphasizes on the teaching of practical lessons in food and nutrition and also gives a great deal of importance in these practical lessons as an entire paper (paper3) of the examination is allocated for practical’s only.
2. The government in her yearly ministerial budgeting, has budgeted money for school development projects and the building of well-equipped laboratories is of top priority in these school projects.
3. The government is also in partnership with some NGO’s such as hope foundations which help finance the achievement of various governmental school projects and this has led to the building of more laboratories in schools.
4. The Cameroon government yearly recruits teachers into the civil society. This has thus led to an increase and availability of more teachers to effectively tech food and nutrition in different localities.

Statement Of The Problem

Leaning is said to be complete when it affects all the various domains of learning i.e. the cognitive, the affective and the psychomotor domains. Thus learning has to be both theoretical and practical.

By personal observation is some schools in the Buea municipality, I found out that many subjects are only thought theoretically with little or no practical work done on it. This is especially associated with most science subjects such as Biology, chemistry, physics, geology, food and nutrition etc. which all require a well-equipped laboratory so that its practical lessons can be carried out in it. However, I discovered that these schools lack these facilities and even those that had it the laboratories were highly unequipped. So this lack of practical lessons in the schools is highly associated with the absence of these infrastructures that will aid the practical learning process.

The problem therefore is that most schools lack equipped laboratories to carry out and teach practical lessons and so the schools teach more of theory than practice thereby rendering the learning process incomplete. This study will be focused on the presence and use of food and nutrition laboratories in secondary schools in Cameroon. This study is undertaken to find out the effects the presence or absence a food and nutrition laboratories on student achievements in the subject food and nutrition.

General Objective

The general objective of this study is to find out what influence the presence and effective use of a food and nutrition laboratory has on students’ achievement in food and nutrition.

Specific Objective

The objectives of this study are to find out how teaching of;

1. Cake baking influences students’ use of instruments and ingredients in baking cakes.
2. The preparation of various dishes affects use of utensils and ingredients in preparing various dishes.
3. The serving of food influences students’ uses of utensils in serving the various causes of a meal.
4. Food storage facilitates students’ use of facilities in storing food.

Research Questions

The following questions have been developed to guide this study;

1. How does the teaching of cake baking influence students use of instruments and inputs in baking cakes?
2. What effects does the teaching of the preparation of various dishes have on the use of utensils and ingredients in preparing various dishes?
3. How does teaching the serving of foods influence student use of utensil in serving the various course of a meal?
4. In what ways does teaching food storage facilitate students’ use of facilities in storing food?

Hypothesis

Null Hypothesis

The presence and use of food and nutrition laboratory has no significant effect on students’ performance in food and nutrition.

Alternative hypothesis

The presence and use of food and nutrition laboratory has a significant effect on students’ performance in food and nutrition.