EFFECT OF BIOLOGY PRACTICAL ACTIVITIES ON THE ACADEMIC
ACHIEVEMENT OF SENIOR SECONDARY SCHOOL BIOLOGY STUDENTS
BY
DR. VERONICA C. UDE
DEPARTMENT OF SCIENCE AND VOCATIONAL EDUCATION
GODFREY OKOYE UNIVERSITY, ENUGU.
drvcude@gmail.com
08036778690
and
CASMIR N. EBUOH (Ph.D)
DEPARTMENT OF SCIENCE AND COMPUTER EDUCATION
ENUGU STATE UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY, ENUGU.
ebuohcas@yahoo.com
08037445718
Abstract
This study investigated the effect of Biology practical activities on the academic achievements of
senior secondary school biology students in Awgu Local Government Area of Enugu State. The
study adopted pretest posttest non-randomized quasi experimental design. Four research
questions and two hypotheses guided the study. One hundred and twenty (120) senior secondary
school biology students were sampled from the population of 490 SS II students. Four schools
were sampled out of 13 Government Secondary Schools in Awgu L.G.A. Instrument for data
collection was Biology Achievement Test (BAT) consisting of 21 multiple-choice test items was
constructed. The instrument was validated by three experiments one in measurement and
evaluation and two in biology education. The reliability test was done using Kuder-Richardson
(K-R20) which gave a reliability index of 0.74. The research questions were answered using
mean and standard deviation while hypothesis were tested using t-test. The findings of the study
showed that students taught biology using practical activities performed better than their
counterparts using conventional method. The result also showed that gender has significant
difference on students’ performance when taught with practicals. The researchers therefore
recommended that teachers should employ practical activities in teaching biology to enhance
students’ performance.
Keywords: Biology practicals, academic Achievements, senior secondary schools, Effects of
Biology, Biology students.
1
Introduction
Science is the bedrock of civilization and development of any nation. Nigeria as one, has made
various efforts towards the realization of science, technology and mathematics (STM)
educational objectives. Some governmental agencies like Department for International
Development (DFID) and academic bodies such as Nigerian Educational Research Development
Council (NERDC) and Science Teachers Association of Nigeria (STAN) are working
conscientiously to realize the objectives of science education in Nigeria to enable the students
acquire scientific literacy. Scientific literacy is the ability of individuals to be well informed and
consequently live satisfactorily and conveniently in a techno-scientific culture. This implies an
ability to think critically, solve socio-scientific problems and take part in collective decision
making and communicate effectively in a socio-techno-science culture (Mbajiorgu, 2004).
Biology as a branch of science is the study of plants and animals. The knowledge of biology as a
subject by secondary school students makes them well informed and motivated to assume roles
in which the practical and theoretical aspects are used in unraveling some basic problems of life
(Ude, 2011). But biology curriculum contains a lot of abstract concepts like photosynthesis,
osmoregulation, genetics and osmosis. These causes frequent problems in conceptual instruction
in biology lessons. The Chief Examiners’ Report of WAEC and NECO 2013, 2014 and 2015
indicate poor performance of students in the sciences, biology inclusive. This calls for urgent
attention if we are to meet up with the challenging and rapidly growing wealth of scientific
knowledge and sustainable development goals (SDG). There is urgent need for innovations in
our method of instruction. There should be a renewal of biology curriculum which will base on
constructivist learning approach. Constructivism argued that knowledge can be obtained by
individuals’ active interaction and meaning can be formed based upon their experiences (Ibe,
2004). Students should therefore set up work and observe the concepts in biology lessons on
their own through practical activities in the laboratory. Students tend to understand better when
they have practical experiences, when they are involved in experiments; they tend to understand
better and come to develop interest in biology as a course (Watts 2013).
Sam (2009) asserted that practical activities can be regarded as a strategy that could be adopted
to make the task of a teacher (teaching) more real to the students as opposed to abstract or
theoretical presentation of facts, principles and concepts of subject matter using varieties of
2
instructional materials/equipment to drive lesson home. The use of practical activities (approach)
to the teaching of biology should be compulsory for biology teachers so as to produce students
who can acquire the necessary knowledge, skills and scientific competence needed to meet the
scientific and technological demands of the society. Nzewi (2008) and Aina (2012) observed that
the laboratory is an indispensable organ of the school if effective teaching and learning of
science subjects are to be achieved and laboratory is a room or building or a special period of
time equipped and set apart for practical or experimental studies to take place”. Ude and Onah
(2017) said, “it is an instructional facility used by the teacher to help students learn about science
and how scientists investigate the world around them. It provides learners with opportunities to
design and execute investigation, engage in scientific reasoning, manipulate equipment, generate
record and analyze data and then discuss results. This implies that science teaching and learning
cannot be completely done in a secondary school where there is no equipped laboratory. This is
the problem with government schools in rural areas. Practical activities help learners to
understand more because the way human nature is, things done by self is difficult to be forgotten
because the picture of the incident is always registered in the brain.
According to Ibe (2004), the American Association for the Achievement of Science (AAAS)
developed a programme known as ‘Science a Process Approach (SAPA). This programme was
designed to improve children’s skills in the process of science. The experimental approach
provides the opportunity for students to seek information using experimental procedures. It calls
for careful observation and interpretation of data and has the qualities of questioning,
investigating and confronting the unknown. It is for the above reasons that the researchers
decided to investigate the effect of practical activities on the academic achievement of senior
secondary school biology students.
Statement of Problem
The incorporation of biology practical activities has been identified as the foundation of a good
scientific programme which allows students in the school to have experience which are
consistent with the goals of scientific literacy. Practical biology constitutes a major part in
biology education and not taught properly, the education of students in other sciences might be
affected negatively. Hence practical activities are very important for biology education but some
obstacles like time, money, stress and availability of equipment militate against its effective and
3
efficient use in secondary schools in Awgu Local Government Area of Enugu State. Students
taught biology theoretically without the practical aspect tend to lack scientific inquiry skills and
invariably perform poorly in both internal and external examinations.
Purpose of the Study
The purpose of the study is to investigate the effect of practical activities on the academic
achievement of senior secondary school biology students in Agwu Local Government Area of
Enugu State. Specifically, the study sought to find out the effect of:
i. Practical activities and manual on the academic achievement of senior secondary
schools students in Biology.
ii. Gender on the academic achievement of senior secondary school students in biology.
Research Questions
The following research questions guided the study:
1. What is the difference in the mean and standard deviation scores of students taught
biology using practical activities and manual ( non-practical activities)?
2. What is the difference in the mean and standard deviation of male and female students
taught biology using practical activities?
Hypotheses
Two null hypotheses tested at 0.05 level of significance guided the study:
1. There is no significant difference between the mean achievement scores of students
taught biology with practical activities and those taught using manual.
2. There is no significant difference between the mean academic achievement scores of
boys and girls taught biology using practicals activities.
Methodology
The study adopted a quasi-experimental design of non-randomized pretest – posttest, consisting
of two schools used for the control group and two schools for experimental group. The
population of the study consists of 490 students in 13 public secondary schools in Awgu L.G.A.
of Enugu State. (Source: PPSMB Awgu Zone, 2017). Purposive random sampling was employed
4
to select 4 schools from Agwu South, Awgu North, Awgu Town and Mbanabo. 30 respondents
from each of the selected schools make up a total of 120 respondents. The instrument for data
collection was Biology Achievement Test (BAT) developed by the researchers based on the
biology topic taught, food tests in food nutrients, selected from SS2 biology curriculum. This
instrument was subjected to face and content validation by two experts in science education and
measurement and evaluation. The reliability of the instrument BAT was determined using
Kuder-Richardson (K-20). A reliability coefficient of 0.74 was obtained. Data was analyzed
using mean and standard deviation for the research questions and ANOVA for testing the null
hypothesis.
Results
Research Question I: What is the difference in the mean and standard deviation scores of
students taught biology using practical activities and manual (non-practical activities)?
Table I: Mean and standard deviation of biology students’ scores of students taught
biology using practical activities and non-practical activities.
Pre-test Post-test
Group No of Adjusted Mean
Students X SD X SD gain
Experimental 60 9.69 2.48 17.20 1.60 7.51
Group
Control 60 9.88 2.05 16.59 1.88 6.71
Group
Total 120
Table I shows that the pretest and posttest of the experimental group mean score are 9.69 and
17.20; and standard deviation scores of 2.48 and 1.60 respectively. However, the control group
has pretest and posttest mean scores of 9.88 and 16.59 with standard deviation scores of 2.05 and
1.88 respectively. The mean gain for the experimental group is 7.51 while that of control group
is 6.71 indicating superiority of the experimental group over the control group. This shows that
5
use of practicals as a method of teaching biology help students develop scientific skills for
problem solving.
Research Question 2: What is the difference in the mean and standard deviation of male and
female students taught biology using practical activities?
Table 2: Mean and standard deviation scores of male and female students taught biology
using practical activities.
Pre-test Post-test
Gender No of Mean
Students X SD X SD gain
Male 60 9.13 1.73 14.86 1.55 5.73
Female 60 8.36 2.08 17.18 2.30 8.82
Total 120
Table 2 shows that the pretest and posttest mean scores of the male are 9.13 and 14.86 with
standard deviation of 1.73 and 1.55 respectively. The female has the pretest and posttest mean
scores of 8.36 and 17.18, and standard deviation of 2.08 and 2.30 respectively. The mean gain
for the male is 6.20 while that of the female is 0.63. This shows that female students perform
better in practical work than their male counterparts.
Hypothesis One:
Ho1: There is no significant difference between the mean achievement scores of students
taught biology with practical activities and those taught using manual.
6
Table 3: Analysis of variance ( ANOVA) for the mean achievement score of students taught
biology with practical activities and those taught using manual.
Source of Sum of Squares Degree of Mean Square F-Ratio
Variance (SS) Freedom (DF)
Between groups 153.60 2 76.8 2.13
Within group 18060.02 120 36.12
Total 18213.62 198
Table three showed the ANOVA table for the achievement scores of students taught with
practical activities and those taught using manual. The calculated f-ratio is 2.13 and f-critical
value for the 2-degree of freedom is 3.00. Since, the f-ratio calculated value (2.13) is less than
the f-critical (3.00). Therefore, the null hypothesis of no significant difference between those
taught with practical activities and those taught using manual was not rejected. This meant that
the difference among the means of those taught with practical activities and those taught using
manual is not statistically significant.
Hypothesis Two:
Ho2: There is no significant difference between the mean academic achievement scores of
male and female students taught biology using practical activities.
Table Four: Analysis of variance (ANOVA) for the mean and academic achievement scores of
male and female students taught biology using practical activities.
Source of Sum of Squares Degree of Mean Square F-Ratio
Variance (SS) Freedom (DF)
Between groups 133.50 2 67.08 3.13
Within group 17071.09 120 34.21
Total 18033.62 198
7
The table showed the ANOVA table for the mean academic achievement scores of male and
female students taught biology using practical activities. The calculated f-ratio was 3.13 and f-
critical value for the 2-degree of freedom was 2.90. Since, the f-ratio calculated (3.13) is higher
than f-critical value (2.90). The null hypothesis of no significant difference between the male and
female students taught biology using practical activities was rejected. This implied that the
difference among the means of those male and female students taught biology using practical
activities is statistically significant.
Discussions
Students in the experimental group that is those taught biological concepts using practical
activities performed better than the control group (those taught without practical activity
method). The active involvement of students in practical activities may have helped in enhancing
and facilitating students’ academic achievement in biology. The result also revealed that there is
great difference between the experimental and control group in development of scientific skills
for problem solving. This is in line with National Academy of Sciences (2010) which
recommended that practical work was found to achieve higher than the non-practical in biology.
The result of the null hypotheses from the ANOVA of the experimental group and control group
with t-calculated 5.36 and t-critical 0.361 indicates that there is significant difference between
the two groups. This is in line with Kibirige & Tsamago (2013) who recommended the use of
practical method in fostering students’ acquisition of science process skills.
In gender disparity, the study revealed that girls performed better than boys when taught using
practical activities because the t-test used for the null hypothesis testing indicated that there is
significant difference between the mean scores of boys and girls; and t-calculated (3.277) greater
than t-critical (0.361 at 28 degree of freedom.
Conclusion
The results of the study indicated that significant difference exist between experimental and
control group which suggests that students in the experimental group performed better than those
taught without practical activities. It was also found out that female students achieved higher
than the male students in biology practical activities.
8
Recommendations
Science students should be exposed to practical activities to enhance their academic
achievement. Teachers should encourage students to develop interest in practical activities by
engaging them in practicals and providing instructional materials that will challenge them to be
involved actively and collaboratively during practical activities. Biology teachers should also
train the science students on the use and proper handling of instructional materials to facilitate
the process of transmitting knowledge, ideas and skills in biology practical activities.
Government should equip laboratories while principals should provide biology teachers with
fund for consumables. They should also sponsor biology teachers for STAN
workshops/conferences.
9
REFERENCES
Aina, K. J.,(2012). Challenges and prospects of primary science teaching in Nigeria. Continental
J Education Research, 5(2): 32-37.
Ibe, E. (2004) Effects of guided inquiry, demonstration and conventional methods of teaching
science on acquisition of science process skills among senior secondary school students.
An unpublished M.Ed Thesis, Department of Science Education, University of Nigeria,
Nsukka.
Kibirige, I., & Tsamago, H. (2013). Learners’ Performance in Physical Sciences Using
Laboratory Investigations. International Journal of Educational Sciences, 5(4): 425-432).
Mbajiorgu, M. N. (2004). Sciences: The teachers perspective. An introduction to Science
Education. Institute for Development Studies, University of Nigeria, Enugu, Nigeria.
National Academy of Sciences (2010). A new biology for the 21st century: Ensuring the United
States leads the coming biology revolution. Washington D. C: National Academies Press.
From http://www.nap.edu Accessed: 29 May, 2014.
Nzewi, U. M. (2008). Practical Approach to the Effective Teaching of Ecological Concepts for
Sustainable Development. Science Teachers’ Association of Nigeria (STAN) Biology
Panel Series, 1-6.
Sam, V., (2009). FCT Schools: Few Classes, Many Unqualified Teachers. Punch Daily, February
16. From http://www.punchontheweb.com/article-print2.aspx?
theatric=Art2009021517573768 (Retrieved on 30 September, 2009). Science
Community Representing Education, (2008). SCORE Report: Practical work in
Science: a Report and Proposal for a Strategic Framework, London.
Ude, V. C. (2011). Relationship between Academic Self-Concept, Worldview and
10
Misconceptions in Photosynthesis and Senior Secondary Students’ Achievement in
Biology in Enugu Urban. Unpublished Ph.D Thesis. ESUT, Enugu.
Ude, V. C. & Onah, E. N. (2017). Influence of ICT as instructional tool in teaching and learning
secondary school biology in Enugu South L.G.A., Enugu State. International Journal of
Education. 2(1), 198-206.
Watts, A. (2013). The assessment of practical science: a literature review. Cambridge
Assessment.
11
