Science education is a way of learning to know the physical aspects of the norms
and culture of man and his environment in its fundamental laws of nature therefore education as a process of learning aimed at equipping people with knowledge and skills
“Practical Work”: Practical work in the context of this study means the teaching and
learning activities in Physical Science that involve learners at some point handling or simply observing the teacher handling or manipulating tools or materials (Ogilvie, 2007:105-107).
The most recent published review of the literature on learning and teaching in the school science laboratory gives what it calls a classical definition of practical work as: „learning experiences in which learners interact with materials or with secondary
sources of data to observe and understand the natural world (for example: aerial photographs to examine lunar and earth geographic features; spectra to examine the nature of stars and atmospheres; sonar images to examine living systems)‟
(Lunetta et al., 2007: 332). The quality of practical work varies considerably but there is strong evidence, from literature, that: „When well-planned and effectively
implemented, science education laboratory and simulation experiences situate learners‟ learning in varying levels of inquiry, requiring students to be both mentally and physically engaged in ways that are not possible in other science education experiences‟ (Lunetta et al., 2007, p. 405). Willington (1998: 12) highlighted different
types of activities at school level that will be regarded as practical work: Teacher demonstrations;
Class practicals with all learners or in small groups;
Circus of experiments in small groups engaged in different activities or rotating in carousel;
Investigation and
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“Interactions”: This refers to the continuous exchange of information between the
teacher and the learner.
“Inquiry”: The word inquiry refers to the quest for knowledge, data or truth. Several
studies have argued that inquiry has been one of the co-founding terms in Science education (Settlag, 2003:34; Barrow, 2006: 267 & Anderson, 2007: 812). There is an idiosyncratic difference between inquiry science teaching and teaching science
through inquiry. Inquiry science teaching refers to teaching science as an inquiry,
meaning helping learners understand how scientific knowledge is developed; while teaching science through inquiry refers to having students take part in inquiry investigations to help them acquire more meaningful conceptual science knowledge, (Lunetta et al, 2007: 396).
“Investigation”: It refers to the process of inquiring for ascertaining facts through
careful examinations. Watson and Wood-Robinson (1998:84) found that teachers preferred the following two characteristics of investigations:
Learner investigations: In investigative work, learners have to make their own decisions either individually or in groups; they are given some autonomy in deciding how the investigation is carried out and how it goes;
Variety of investigation procedures: An investigation must involve learners in using procedures such as planning, measuring, observing, analysing data and evaluating methods. Not all investigations will allow learners to use every kind of investigational procedure and investigations may vary in the amount of autonomy given to learners at different stages of the investigative process and at different levels of education.
―Science”: The word science comes from the Latin "scientia," meaning knowledge. Therefore we can say science is "knowledge attained through study or practice," or "knowledge covering general truths of the operation of general laws, especially as obtained and tested through scientific method [and] concerned with the physical world‖ (Oluwatelure and Duyilemi, 2013: 43).
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Science is the concerted, collaborated, dynamic human effort to understand, the history of the natural world and how it works, with observable physical evidence as the basis of that understanding (Oluwatelure and Duyilemi, 2013: 43). (It is done through observation of natural phenomena, and/or through experimentation that tries to simulate natural processes under controlled conditions
“Chemistry” In the context of this study is defined as a section of Physical Science
taught at Senior Secondary School. Chemistry and physics are specializations of Physical Science. Chemistry is regarded as the study of matter and energy and the interactions between them. It tends to focus on the properties of substances and the interactions between different types of matter, particularly reactions that involve electrons (Russell, 2001:1). Chemistry is a basic science whose central concerns are:
the structure and behaviour of atoms (elements); the composition and properties of compounds;
the reactions between substances with their accompanying energy exchange; and
the laws that unite these phenomena into a comprehensive system.
“Attitudes”: This refers to the feelings that a person has about an object, based on
their belief about the object. The 10 scientific attitudes learners should possess are beliefs, curiosity, objectivity, critical mindedness, open mindedness, inventiveness, risk-taking, intellectual honesty, humility and responsibility (National Academic of Science, 2008:2). Some of these attitudes are helpful in terms of Chemistry practical work especially curiosity, because they help learners to explore and ask questions. Learners‘ curiosity is at first immature, impulsive, spontaneous, easily stimulated by new things but just as easily distracted also (Lindt, 2000:57). It is worth mentioning that some attitudes can be negative and distractive in the teaching and learning of Chemistry especially in practical work. Negative attitudes have also been singled out as a reason for learners to fail science. Attitudes influence behaviours and behaviours in tern influence conduct and performance.
“Science process skills”: Skills refer to the correct application of knowledge to the
practical task, therefore science process skills refer to the process whereby science knowledge is applied with congruent skills to a practical task. The science practical
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skills that are needed by learners are observing, inferring, measuring, communication, classifying and predicting.