EFFECT OF AVAILABILITY AND UTILIZATION OF PHYSICS LABORATORY EQUIPMENT ON STUDENT’S ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT IN SENIOR SECONDARY SCHOOLS

EFFECT OF AVAILABILITY AND UTILIZATION OF PHYSICS LABORATORY EQUIPMENT ON STUDENT’S ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT IN SENIOR SECONDARY SCHOOLS

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1. Background to the Study

Today we are living in the age of science and technology. Scientific inventions and discoveries have revolutionalised our lives. Science is nothing but knowledge so obtained by observations, readings, experimentation and realization.

Science subjects constitute a major part of the subjects being offered in most post primary institutions in Nigeria today. These subjects are so important that the Federal government National Policy on Education (2004) in specific terms states that “the secondary school Education shall provide trained manpower in the applied sciences and technology’’.

The importance attached to science by the Federal government could be due to the general belief that science is capable of improving and changing skills, attitudes, and cognition by increasing pupil’s store of knowledge about themselves, their environment and their world. The development of any nation which depends on science and technology, hinges on science Education, science has been viewed as an instrument that can aid development in many countries. It plays important and dominant roles in spear heading technological advancements, promoting national wealth, improving health, and accelerating industrialization (Validya, 2003).

Physics as one of the science subjects is basic for understanding the complexities of modern technology and essential for technological advancement of a nation. This aspect of science is making significant contributions to many of the inventions that are shaping modern day, and has helped to explain many of the events being encountered in everyday life. Physics is one of the pre-requisite subjects for the study of engineering technological, medical and other applied science courses, in the University. Physics provide training for a vast range of carriers where it is either employed directly or where the skills developed can be applied in innovative ways in other fields. Despite its importance, physics remain the least favored science subject among students generally, only a few students choose to study physics at O. Level and subsequently at higher degree. Students performs poorly in physics, lack of practical work may be an important reason for students for poor content knowledge and understanding of physics at secondary school level in Nigeria (Millar, 2004).

There is a serious shortage of students and teachers of physics in Nigerian secondary schools, this is generating concern among science educators, and researchers are increasingly exploring why students avoid the subject, over the years student of physics in secondary school have found it extremely difficult to perform well in the subject (Nelkon & Ogbon, 1988).

Studies have been carried out to find out the cause of such poor performance. Poor performance of students in physics could be linked to students practical ability (Olabanji, 1997), supported by Akanbi (2003) that poor performance in physics may be due to inadequate laboratory equipment, and facilities which make the present study imperative.

Physics as a course of study is perceived to be experimental, the understanding of practical aspect may help students to learn physics concepts. The educational objectives of physics education cannot be fully realized if student’s performance in both physics theory and practical are not balanced (Aina, 2011).

For the mere fact that physics has been severally labeled as the most conceptually difficult subject, particularly the practical aspect of the subject, it is important to explore the underlying difficulties that might impede quality learning in the subject, in the context of Nigerian school environment.

The role of science is being threatened by poor performance of students in practical tasks in internal and external examinations (Balogun, 1986). People however, have given various reasons for this poor performance of students and these range from inadequate resources, non availability of laboratory facilities, large classes, in adequate time allocation, poor science teaching due to teachers’ incompetence and poor commitment to students’ poor attitude to learning (Sorunke, 1982).

1.2 Statement of the Problem

There is a relationship between theoretical knowledge (concepts, principles) and practical techniques (methods) in Physics. The performance of students in Physics in SSCE over the past few years in the study area has not been impressive. This is shown in the WAEC results of the years 2008, 2009 and 2010 for Physics which has shown a considerable rate of failures in the grades obtained during the years in review .

It is against this background that this research examined the levels of availability and utilization of laboratory facilities for teaching Physics in senior secondary schools in order to determine the effect of availability and utilization of laboratory facilities on students’ performances in practical Physics in Gombe State.

1.3 Objectives of the Study

The main objectives of this study are to:

1. Establish whether the secondary schools in the area of study possess sufficient Physics laboratory facilities.
2. Establish the extent to which teachers make use of laboratory facilities.
3. Find the relationship between utilization of laboratory facilities and students performance in practical Physics.

1.4 Research Questions

The study sought to answer the following questions:

(a) What is the level of availability of Physics laboratory facilities in senior secondary

schools in Gombe State?

(b)To what extent are the available Physics laboratory facilities utilized in senior secondary schools in Gombe State?

(c)What is the relationship between availability of Physics laboratory facilities and students knowledge of practical Physics?

(d)What is the relationship between utilization of Physics laboratory facilities and students knowledge of practical Physics?

1.5 Null Hypotheses

The following null hypotheses were formulated for this study:

(a) There is no significant difference in the level of availability of Physics laboratory facilities among the selected schools.

(b)There is no significant difference in the level of utilization of Physics laboratory facilities among the selected schools.

(c) There is no significant relationship between availability of laboratory facilities and students performance in practical Physics.

(d) There is no significant relationship between the utilization of Physics laboratory facilities and students performance in practical Physics.

1.6 Significance of the Study

It has long been observed that effective science teaching required adequate laboratory facilities and utilization of those facilities. At this crucial point of Nigeria’s development, it is very pertinent to establish whether in fact Nigerian Secondary Schools posses’ sufficient laboratory facilities and to what sort of use those facilities are put. Researchers and science educators have spent a lot of time and energy trying to find ways of improving science learning.

Stone (1958), indicated in a survey of science teaching that equipments are inadequate, and that some were not widely used in the science teaching in Nigerian schools. The study is aimed at improving students’ performances in Physics laboratory practical activities. Laboratory practicals are considered as an internal representation of experience that are characterized by unique strategy to solving scientific learning problems. Science laboratory is an important component in learning science subjects but it depends upon the degree to which it is efficiently used. Only the availability of science laboratory is not a guarantee of students’ performance until both the students and teachers actually use science laboratory facilities efficiently (Lewin, 2000).

The proper use of laboratory and demonstration of experiments are the indicators of student performance. Science laboratories are important only when they are used in the school setting. If science laboratories are provided to schools, there are three possibilities that they remain unused, used inefficiently and used efficiently. Still, the standards of efficient utilization of resource inputs have not been formulated.

Also, one could expect the level of equipment in the schools to affect examination performance, but currently, there is no data available to confirm this expectation. This study sets out to provide such data as it relates to Physics.

In a country where there is a drastic shortage of people trained in biologically related Professions, for example Doctors, Vetenarians, Agriculturists, Biochemists, Medical technicians, the need to encourage for establishing Physics science laboratory, provision of adequate materials and utilization cannot be over emphasized.

This study aimed to go along way at improving the teaching of Physics and Physics laboratory practical activities in Gombe State and in Nigerian Secondary Schools in general.

• It is also hoped that the study will facilitate a change of attitude of educational administrators in providing apparatus and materials relevant for practical.

• Expose Physics teachers to realize the importance of practical laboratory Physics activities in relation to students’ performance.

• It is also of great importance to educational resource centers and educational technology centers to live up to their expectations.

• It is hoped to provide an insight to both educational planners and science curriculum designers to modify where necessary the present system of conducting Physics practical lessons.

Notwithstanding, researchers have found shortages in the number of laboratories in Nigerian schools (Alebiosu, 2003; Onipede, 2003). They argued that many schools do not have required laboratory facilities. Hence, students often fail to acquire science laboratory skills because their teachers were unable to conduct practical as they would like to and this always had inevitable consequences for students learning (Keister, 1992).

These shortages of laboratory facilities could have serious implications on the quality of schools output. All these show the importance attached to science laboratories in schools. It is this importance that prompted the researcher to examine the availability and the level of utilization of Physics laboratory facilities in Gombe State as it influence the quality of output in terms of students’ performance in the senior secondary school examinations.

The study will help students to develop a healthy attitude toward learning of Physics, and will expose students to the importance of laboratory work.

1.7 Scope and Delimitation of the Study

The study in way attempts to cover all the Local Government Areas in Gombe State but only six local councils are going to be considered for the study. Similarly, the study did not attempt to consider all arms of senior secondary schools but the final year class, as it is the WAEC and NECO evaluation class.

The study did not in a way carry out in-depth investigation into other variables relating to the use of Physics laboratory facilities such as their relevance, maintenance, etc. rather it considered the importance of the facilities towards practical Physics performance.

The study is limited to the provision and utilization of laboratory facilities and the performances of students in practical Physics of senior secondary schools in Gombe State. Wider approach could have been adopted but for several other factors like time constraints, financial constraints and transportation problems to conduct research work, the work could have cover the whole of Gombe State. The work however, was limited to the six selected local government areas.

 

EFFECT OF AVAILABILITY AND UTILIZATION OF PHYSICS LABORATORY EQUIPMENT ON STUDENT’S ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT IN SENIOR SECONDARY SCHOOLS

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