THE ROLE OF SCIENCE LABORATORY IN THE TEACHING AND LEARNING OF INTEGRATED SCIENCE IN JUNIOR SECONDARY SCHOOL IN PLATEAU STATE

THE ROLE OF SCIENCE LABORATORY IN THE TEACHING AND LEARNING OF INTEGRATED SCIENCE IN JUNIOR SECONDARY SCHOOL IN PLATEAU STATE

Abstract

The laboratory has been given a central and distinctive role in science education, and science educators have suggested that there are rich benefits in learning from using laboratory activities. At this time, however, some educators have begun to question seriously the effectiveness and the role of laboratory work, and the case for laboratory teaching is not as self-evident as it once seemed. This research provides perspectives on these issues through a review of the history, goals, and research findings regarding the laboratory as a medium of instruction in introductory science teaching. The analysis of research culminates with suggestions for researchers who are working to clarify the role of the laboratory in the teaching and learning of integrated science in junior secondary school in plateau State, Nigeria.The questions were structured using 4 sections: section A. composed of demographic data, section B. the role of science laboratory, section C. teaching and learning of integrated science in junior secondary school and section D. composed of the effect of science laboratory in student’s performance. The questionnaire was in English.

TABLE OF CONTENT

Title page- – – – – – – – – i

Approval page – – – – – – – -ii

Dedication – – – – – – – – -iii

Acknowledgement – – – – – – – -iv

Abstract – – – – – – – – – -v

Table of content – – – – – – – -vi

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION – – – – – – – -1

1.0 Background of the study – – – – -1

1.1 Statement of the problem – – – – -5

1.2 Purpose of the study – – – – – -6

1.3 Significance of the study – – – – -8

1.4 Research questions – – – – – -9

1.5 Scope of the study – – – – – – -10

CHAPTER TWO

LITERATURE REVIEW – – – – – – -11

CHAPTER THREE

Research methodology – – – – – – -39

Design of study – – – – – – – -40

CHAPTER FOUR

Presentation, analysis and interpretation of data – -48

CHAPTER FIVE

Summary of findings – – – – – – -60

Conclusion – – – – – – – – -61

Recommendations – – – – – – – -62

Suggestions for further research – – – – -64

References – – – – – – – – -65

Appendix I – – – – — – – – -68

Questionnaire. – – – – – – – -69

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.0 Background of the study

Science educators have believed that the laboratory is an important means of instruction in science since late in the 19th century. Laboratory activities were used in high school chemistry in the 1880s (Fay, 1931). In 1886, Harvard University published a list of physics experiments that were to be included in high school physics classes for students who wished to enroll at Harvard (Moyer, 1976). Laboratory instruction was considered essential because it provided training in observation, supplied detailed information, and aroused pupils’ interest. These same reasons are still accepted almost 100 years later.

Shulman and Tamir, in the Second Handbook of Research on Teaching (Travers, ed., 1973), listed five groups of objectives that may be achieved through the use of the laboratory in science classes:

1. skills – manipulative, inquiry, investigative, organizational, communicative
2. concepts – for example, hypothesis, theoretical model, taxonomic category
3. cognitive abilities – critical thinking, problem solving, application, analysis, synthesis
4. understanding the nature of science – scientific enterprise, scientists and how they work, existence of a multiplicity of scientific methods, interrelationships between science and technology and among the various disciplines of science
5. attitudes – for example, curiosity, interest, risk taking, objectivity, precision, confidence, perseverance, satisfaction, responsibility, consensus, collaboration, and liking science (1973, p.1119).

Writing about laboratory teaching at the college level, McKeachie said:

Laboratory teaching assumes that first-hand experience in observation and manipulation of the materials of science is superior to other methods of developing understanding and appreciation. Laboratory training is also frequently used to develop skills necessary for more advanced study or research.

From the standpoint of theory, the activity of the student, the sensorimotor nature of the experience, and the individualization of laboratory instruction should contribute positively to learning. Information cannot usually be obtained, however, by direct experience as rapidly as it can from abstractions presented orally or in print… Thus, one would not expect laboratory teaching to have an advantage over other teaching methods in the amount of information retention, in ability to apply learning, or in actual skill in observation or manipulation of materials… (in Gage, 1962, p.1144-1145).

Another writer, Pickering (1980), identified two misconceptions about the use of the laboratory in college science. One is that laboratories somehow “illustrate” lecture courses – a function that (in Pickering’s opinion) is not possible in a simple, one-afternoon exercise. Pickering contended that most scientific theories are based on a large number of very sophisticated experiments. He suggested that, if lecture topics are to be illustrated, this should be done through the use of audio-visual aids or demonstrations. The second misconception is that laboratories exist to teach manipulative skills. Pickering argued that the majority of students in science laboratory classes do not have a career goal of becoming a professional scientist. Further, many of the skills students learn in laboratories are obsolete in science careers. If these skills are worth teaching, it is as tools to be mastered for basic scientific inquiry and not as ends in themselves (1980, p. 80).

Laboratory activities have long had a distinctive and central role in science curriculum as a means of making sense of the natural world. Since the ninetieth century, when schools began to teach science systematically, the laboratory has become a distinctive feature of science education After the first-world-war, and with the rapid increase of scientific knowledge, the laboratory was used mainly as a means for confirming and illustrating information previously learnt in a lecture or from textbooks. With the reform in science education in the 1960s in many countries, the ideal became to engage students with investigations, discoveries, inquiry, and problem solving activities. In other words, the laboratory became the core of the science learning process (Shulman & Tamir, 1973). The National Science Education Standards (NSES, 1996, p. 23) defines such learning activities (e.g. inquiry) as: “the diverse ways in which scientists study the natural world and propose explanations based on the evidence derived from their work. Scientific inquiry also refers to the activities through which students develop knowledge and understanding of scientific ideas, as well as an understanding of how scientists study the natural world.” For many years science educators have suggested that many benefits accrue from engaging students in science laboratory activities (Tobin, 1990; Hofstein & Lunetta, 2004). Tobin (1990) for example wrote that: “Laboratory activities appeal as a way of allowing students to learn with understanding and at the same time engage in the process of constructing knowledge by doing science” (p. 405).

1.1 Statement of the problem

The laboratory has long been a distinctive feature of science education. In 1970 the Commission of Professional Standards and Practices of the National Science Teachers Association thought that the case for school science laboratories was too obvious to argue (Ramsey & Howe, 1969): “That the experience possible for students in the laboratory situation should be an integral part of any science course has come to have a wide acceptance in science teaching. What the best kinds of experiences are, however, and how these may be blended with more conventional classwork, has not been objectively evaluated to the extent that clear direction based on research is available for teachers” . Less than 10 years later, the case for the laboratory in science instruction was not as self-evident as it once seemed. Science laboratory requirements are currently of special concern because there is now a trend to retreat from student-centered science activities, resulting in less time and therefore experience in the science laboratory (Gardner, 1979). Therefore this research seeks to review the research studies relating to the role of science laboratory in teaching and learning of integrated science in junior secondary schools and to suggest further research that might be needed to assess the value of laboratory work.

1.3      Purpose of the study

More specific objectives of this research work are:

1. To review briefly the history and goals of the laboratory in introductory science teaching;
2. To review and critically analyze research findings regarding the effectiveness of laboratory instruction
3. To suggest specific dimensions of potential relevance for research on teaching and learning in the laboratory
4. To provide a synthesis of suggestions for researchers working to clarify the role of the laboratory in science education.

1.4      Significance of the study

For our purposes, laboratory activities are defined as contrived learning experiences in which students interact with materials to observe phenomena. The contrived experiences may have different levels of structure specified by the teacher or laboratory handbook, and they may include phases of planning and design, analysis and interpretation, and application as well as the central performance phase. Laboratory activities usually are performed by students individually or in small groups, and our definition does not include large-group demonstrations, science museum visits, or diffused field trips. Many research studies have been conducted comparing the effects of methods of practical work in the laboratory with other instructional methods over the past decades. For example, Coulter (1966) compared inductive laboratory experiments with inductive demonstrations in high school biology; Yager, Engen, and Snider (1969) compared three groups, namely, a “laboratory group,” a “demonstration group,” and a “discussion group” in biology; Lunetta (1974) compared a control group to a computer-simulation group in physics; and Ben-Zvi, Hofstein, Kempa, and Samuel (1976a) compared a laboratory group to a group viewing filmed experiments in chemistry. Most of these research studies have shown no significant differences between the instructional methods as measured by standard paper-andpencil tests in student achievement, attitude, critical thinking, and in knowledge of the processes of science. Not surprisingly, the one area in which the laboratory approach showed measurable advantage over other modes of instruction was in the development of laboratory manipulative skills. Because many studies comparing the effects of laboratory learning with more conventional forms of instruction have resulted in non significant differences, some science educators (e.g., Bates, 1978; Dickinson & Sanders, 1979) have questioned the value of laboratory work. However, it is important to note that similarly poor evidence for success has been found for almost all attempts to improve schooling. In a sweeping review of educational research, Stephens (1967) noted that changing instructional techniques seems to hinder learning as often as it seems to aid it. Therefore this research will contribute the vast research work that is already on ground on this subject matter by highlight the roles of science laboratory in the teaching and learning of integrated science in junior secondary schools which could be useful to the various ministry of education as well as policy makers in the educational sector.

Research questions

1. What is the role of science laboratory in the teaching and learning of integrated science in junior secondary school in plateau state?
2. What is the goal of science laboratory in teaching and learning of integrated science in junior secondary school?
3. How effective is the science laboratory in teaching and learning of integrated science in junior secondary school in plateau state?

THE ROLE OF SCIENCE LABORATORY IN THE TEACHING AND LEARNING OF INTEGRATED SCIENCE IN JUNIOR SECONDARY SCHOOL IN PLATEAU STATE