The Impact of Practical Laboratory Dissection on Students Achievement in Biology among Unity Colleges in Niger State, Nigeria.

Abstract

The study investigated the “Impact of practical laboratory dissection on achievement in Biology amongst Unity College in Niger State, Nigeria. The research design adopted for the study was a quasi-experimental: pretest, posttest and non-randomized experimental and control groups design. The population consisted of only 6 Unity Colleges with students ‘size of 576. As ample size of 92 students was selected and used as experimental and control groups. The sample consisted of 54 males and 38 female students. Practical Rabbit dissection lesson plan was used for the experimental group while the control group was taught using the conventional approach, i.e without any practical specimen (alternative to practical approach). Practical Laboratory Achievement Test Items (PLATI) were used for as instrument for data collection. The instrument contained 25 items which were validated by experts in biology A reliability coefficient of 0.66 was obtained from the instrument using split –half method. The data collected was first subjected to descriptive statistics, i.e. Means (X) and Standard Deviations (SD). Thereafter, Analysis of Covariance (ANOVA) was computed using the data. The result showed that, there was a significant difference between the experimental and control groups ( (1,90) + 64.209, P<0.05) The ANOVA analysis on gender amongst the experimental group only indicated that there was no significant difference between male and female students ((1,40) +0.35, P<0.05). Based on the findings of the study, it was recommended that Biology teachers must always conduct practical to convey theoretical knowledge to practice while school administrators and government should also provide the enabling learning environment and resources for practical work/exercises in our schools. This is the only sure means of upscaling students’ performance in external examinations. Their chances of securing admission and pursuing lifelong aspirations highly depend on the performance in external examinations in ECO and WAEC.