Project Lead(s)

Project Abstract

Preamble

The whole world is in some new ecosystems with many new changes occurring as if time is running very fast. More so, according to Obanya (2014) the new world is characterized by uncertainty as the rapid changes taking place have become highly unpredictable. There is also a radical shift from government as major provider of employment to a more increased role of anchoring a conducive environment, polices and activities that gives room to self-reliance and as well encourage other providers in the formal, non-formal and informal non-governmental sectors to thrive. Previously, in the world of work there was much emphasis on qualifications but today there is a paradigm shift to personal qualities according to Houghton and Sheeben (2000) and this has implications for science teaching and learning to play a crucial role in sustainable development worldwide. Consequently, the teaching of basic science and technology in schools should enhance acquisition of appropriate skills and development of attitudes that will make the leaner relevant in the global economy. Science teaching and learning is not only to instruct the learner how much to remember science content or memorize concepts, but it is to master science process skills and as well develop attitudes that can help them to cope with their daily activities.

Need for the Study

Globally, there is a rapid change in science and technological advancement according to Ige and Ogunseemi (2016) and so the capacity building of learners to meet the needs of the 21^st century is readily apparent. The entire world is now competitive whereby in every sector, emphasis is now placed on the knowledge worker, who has to be a learning individual, continuously searching and applying knowledge. Workers now have to be versatile team players, with a lot more than strictly academic and technical skills. Resultantly, science process skills have been suggested as one important method of reaching a good knowledge which is essential for scientific inquiry to develop the cognitive, affective and connective skills of the learners. However, according to Prakash (2011), Science teaching and learning should lead the learner to explore and describe the things that surround them which is the basis for this study.

Background

]Science teaching and learning is supposed to provide the learner with an opportunity to interact with science process skills that can be used to solve problems in everyday life and as well contribute to national development. More so, that researchers such as (Wahidin, 2004; Sahali and Halim, 2010) shows that science process skills was instrumental to learners’ success in science and more importantly to human existence while those learners who are proficient in science process skills are not only better scientists but better citizens.

Science process skills according to Hill (2011) are the building blocks of thinking and inquiry in science and it is not only relevant to science students because everything in the world today involves using these skills. Science process skills according to Opara (2011) are activities which learners carry out in scientific investigations to enable the acquisition of scientific knowledge and skills.  The acquisition of science process skills helps the learner to perceive the relevance of science in everyday life.

Although, in teaching and learning science, Miller, Linn and Grounlund (2009) showed that hands-on performance tasks require learners to manipulate objects, measure outcomes and observe results of their experimental manipulations. These hands-on tasks according to Santos and David (2017) are essential to capture the science process skills and do science than to merely learn the facts, concepts and theories of science. Science process skills are set of broadly transferable abilities, appropriate to various science disciplines and reflective of the behaviour of scientists.

Moreover, it is essential that these process skills are practiced to understand how scientists investigate and answer their own questions and as well gather information about nature. However, Santos and David (2017) claim that science process skills are tools that scientists use to do science and could also be useful in training children to develop their talent and be relevant in a world of uncertainty. Similarly, Mandor (2002) posits that science process skills have an added quality of contributing to the learners’ abilities to explore their environment, answer questions, and solve challenging problems.

Therefore, Science process skills ranges from basic to complex and it has been classified by scholars (Padilla, 2011; Zeidan and Jayosi, 2015; Ekon and Eni, 2015) as basic science process skills which includes observation, communication, classification, measuring, inferring and prediction while integrated science process skills are controlling of variables, operational definition, hypothesizing and testing, data gathering, and Interpretation, experimenting and Modelling.

Objectives

The research paper seeks to achieve its general objective of acquisition of science process skills and attitudes for sustainable development of Junior Secondary School Students.  Therefore, this study became necessary to;

1. Introduce the learner to the natural phenomenon in the environment.
2. Introduce the learner to scientific knowledge, methods and its application for sustainability in the real world of work.
3. Help the learner to develop skills and attitudes for survival in an uncertain and competitive world.

  Research Questions

1. What is the pre-instructional attitudes of participants towards acquisition of science process skills?
2. What is the ranking order of participants’ demonstration of science process skills?
3. What is the post-instructional attitudes of participants towards acquisition of science process skills?

Research Methodology

This is a quasi-experimental study that will employ Science Process Skills Assessment Procedure (SPSAP) to facilitate the acquisition of science process skills among Junior Secondary School Students. The instrument is a seven steps cycle of practice which involves;

Step 1: Instruction on skill acquisition

Step 2: Identification/description of science process skills

Step 3: Demonstration of skills (basic science process skills)

Step 4: Record of findings

Step 5: Review of findings

Step 6: Analysis of findings

Step 7: Feedback/Instructions

The six (6) basic science process skills; observation, communication, classification, measuring, inferring, and prediction will be used in this study as  the pre-requisite for integrated science process skills. The instrument was adapted from Chabalengula, Mumba, Hunter and Wilson (2009) with its scoring from 0 to 3 where 0 = not applicable, 1 = cannot demonstrate but needs more instruction and practice, 2 = demonstrate but with limited proficiency and so needs more practice, and 3 = proficient performance. In other words, every participant can score as low as 0 and as high as 18 at every rating. The instrument will be subjected to content validity with the help of experts in the field of measurement and evaluation. The reliability of the procedure will be determined by trial testing of the instrument on a non-participating school within Ekiti State.

Participants will be drawn using multistage sampling procedure. Ekiti state Nigeria will be stratified randomly along Three 3 senatorial district as follows: Ekiti North, Ekiti central and Ekiti south. From each of the senatorial districts, one 1 public secondary school will be randomly selected irrespective of the location whether rural or urban since they all have certified teachers following the standard of the Teacher Registration Council of Nigeria (TRCN) a body that is responsible for the certification and professionalism of teachers in Nigeria. From the selected schools, an intact class of Junior Secondary School (JSS2) will be selected to participate in the study.

Reference

Chabalengula, M. V., Mumba, F., Hunter, W, F.J, and Wilson, E. (2009). A Model for     Assessing Students’ Science Process Skills During Science Lab Work. Problems of            Education in The 21st Century.Vol.11, 28-36

Ekon, E.E and Eni, I.E. (2015). Gender acquisition of science process skills among junior secondary school students in Calabar municipality: Implications for implementation of universal basic education objectives. Global Journal of Educational Research. 14. 93-99

Hill, A. 2011. What is science process skills? Science Education, 56. 112-113

Houghton, J. and Sheeben, P. (2000). A primer on the knowledge economy, Centre for Strategic Economic Studies, Victoria University, Australia.

Ige, T.A and Ogunseemi, O.E.  (2016). Effects of reflective teaching observations    on pre-service science teachers’ teaching skills and attitude to teaching in South-western, Nigeria. Reveu Scientifique, Geste et Voix No 23, 2(2), 442-456

Mandor, A.K. (2002). Effect of the constructivist model on the acquisition of science process skills among junior secondary school students. Unpublished M.Ed. thesis,   Department     of science education, University of Nigeria, Nzukka

Miller, M.D, Linn, R.L and Grounlund, N.E. (2009). Measurement and assessment in teaching. NJ: Pearson Education, Inc.

Obanya, P. (2014). Educationeering. Ibadan, Nigeria: HEBN Publishers Plc.

Opara, J.A. (2011). Some considerations in achieving effective teaching and learning in Science education. Journal of Education and social research. 1.4.

Padilla, M.J. 2011.The science process skills. National Association for research in science teaching.

Prakash, J. (2011). What are the aims of teaching science to students? http//www.preservearticles.com/201105216962/aims-of-teaching-science-html

Sahali, E.H.M and Halim, L. (2010). Development and validation of a test of Integrated science process skills. Social and behavioural sciences. 9, 142-146

Santos, M.D and David, A.P. (2017). Self and teacher assessment of science process skills. The normal lights. 11,1, 91-108

Wahidin, A. (2004). Inquiry in Science education. International Perspectives. Culture and comparative studies.

Zeidan, A.H and Jayosi, M.R. (2015). Science process skills and attitudes towards science among Palestinian secondary school students. World Journal of Education. 5.1, 13-24