Abstract:
The study assessed the effect of practical activities on senior high school students’ process skills,
conceptual understanding and performance in measurement in physics. Students from Form two
science studying physics at Kaleo Senior High and Technical School (KASHTS) lack the skills
and conceptual understanding in measurement in physics. It became evident when about 80%
representing one hundred and seventy (170) students out of the entire physics student’s
population of two hundred and twelve (212) struggled to apply certain measuring skills and
simple concepts in measurement in physics. This led to most of the students showing abysmal
performance during practical tests. The objectives of the study were to: identify the process skills
students are unable to perform under measurement in physics, determine the pre-conceptual
process skills of students in measurement in physics, determine the effect of practical activities
on students’ conceptual understanding in measurement in physics and assess the effect of
practical activities on students’ performance in measurement in physics. Action research design
was adopted in this study. Purposive sampling was used to select an intact class of forty-nine
(49) physics students in Form two at Kaleo Senior High and Technical School in the Upper West
Region. The researcher used observational checklist, questionnaires and tests as instruments for
the collection of data. These instruments were validated by my supervisor and other specialist in
the field of physics whereas a pilot test was conducted at Queen of Peace SHS (40 students)
attaining a Cronbach Alpha value of 0.960 representing a higher reliability. Both qualitative and
quantitative method of data analysis were employed in this study. The qualitative data were
analysed using descriptive statistics whilst the quantitative data were analysed using inferential
statistics. Data collected were analysed by applying Paired sample t-test, mean, standard
deviation and percentages using statistical package for social science (SPSS) version 26. The
findings revealed that students enjoyed practical activities and their post-responses as compared
to their pre-responses of the intervention questionnaire indicated an improve conceptual
understanding in measurement in physics. The analysis suggested that practical activities in
measurement in physics had a significant impact on student performance, as evidenced by the
higher mean and standard deviation of the post-test scores (29.7, SD=7.2) compared to the pretest
scores (13.6, SD = 4.4), and the significant results of the paired sample t-test (p =
0.010<0.05, t = 16.13>1.68). Generally, the observations made during the post-laboratory test
(Table 4.2) compared to the pre-laboratory test (Table 4.1) and opinions expressed by the
students after the intervention showed an important effect of practical activities on students’
process skills. The study recommended that measurement in physics should be treated with much
attention at Kaleo Senior High and Technical School as it serves as the foundation to which all
aspects of physics is built upon.
Description:
Department of Science Education, Faculty of Science Education,
submitted to the School of Graduate Studies in partial fulfilment
of the requirements for the award of the degree of
Master of Philosophy
(Science Education)
in the University of Education, Winneba
DECEMBER, 2022