Abstract:
This study determined the effect of conduct of chemistry practical work on the
development of basic science process skills (measuring, observing, calculating,
recording, predicting, classifying and inferring) and critical thinking among third year
elective chemistry students. Two senior high schools in the Sekondi-Takoradi
Metropolis of the western region of Ghana were selected for the study. The study was
necessitated by the continuous poor performance of SHS chemistry students in the test
of chemistry practical conducted by the West Africa Examinations Council over the
years. The intrinsic case study design with multiple data source was employed in this
study. The stratified purposive sampling adopting simple frequency counts was used
in selecting 160 third year chemistry students. Two classes each consisting of Home
Economics and General Science making a total of four strata was sampled from the
two senior high schools. The participants for the study were maintained in their
schools while the teachers conducted practical work for them. A Participant
Observation Checklist and a Questionnaire on Science Process Skills were used to
collect data on science process skill development in both schools. An Acid-Base
Critical Thinking Test was administered to determine how the third year senior high
student’s elective chemistry students employed their critical thinking in solving
scientific problems. Intact Group Discussions was conducted after the study in both
schools. The use of multiple instruments enabled the researcher to triangulate the
results obtained from the study. The findings revealed that the third year elective
chemistry students were not engaged in practical work during their first and second
years. Practical work conducted in the two senior high schools did not aid the
development of the students’ science process skills. The student’s inability to develop
science process skills has affected the development of their critical thinking skills.
Practical work conducted in the two schools has been focused primarily on helping
the students pass the test of practical work conducted by WAEC to the neglect of
development of science process skills. The situation has led to memorization of
scientific concepts/facts without understanding. The researcher recommends that
chemistry teachers employ modern innovative pedagogies in developing science
process skills by conducting engaging practical work from first year through to third
year.
Description:
A thesis in the Department of Science Education,
Faculty of Science, submitted to the School of
Graduate Studies in partial fulfillment
of the requirements for the award of the degree
Master of Philosophy
(Science Education)
in the University of Education, Winneba
