Learners’ science process skills for chemistry 5124 practical activities: a case of selected secondary schools of Kitwe district.
| dc.contributor.author | Ng'andu, Sunday | |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2023-11-29T13:48:35Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2023-11-29T13:48:35Z | |
| dc.date.issued | 2020 | |
| dc.description | Thesis | |
| dc.description.abstract | This study investigated the science process skills (SPS) learners use to solve chemistry 5124 practical activities. The study subsequently sought to: establish learner’s views on the use of SPS in chemistry 5124 practical activities, identify SPS learners use to conduct chemistry 5124 practical activities, determine the level to which learners use SPS to conduct chemistry 5124 practical activities, and establish the relationship between learners’ views on the use of SPS and the SPS learners use to conduct chemistry 5124 practical activities. The study used a mixed methods approach in a convergent mixed methods design to investigate the issues involved. The study sample consisted of 303 grade 12 learners selected from four secondary schools using systematic sampling technique. Data collection instruments were: learners’ questionnaire, focus group discussion guide and observation schedule. Qualitative data were analyzed thematically while quantitative data were analyzed by descriptive and inferential statistics generated using the statistical package for social sciences (SPSS) version 20. Findings indicated that learners were of the view that they used SPS such as observing (82%), measuring (57%), classifying (69%), interpreting (74%), inferring (63%) and communicating (67%) skills, except predicting (64%) to conduct chemistry 5124 practical activities. Findings further revealed that learners failed to use most of the SPS like interpreting (83%), inferring (85%), predicting (69%), and communicating (73%) in actual chemistry practical activities. The study concluded that despite learners being of the view that they used most of SPS, they used observing, measuring and classifying at low level, but did not use interpreting, inferring, predicting, and communicating at the least required level when conducting chemistry practical activities. The study also concluded that there was no relationship between views of learners on the use of SPS and SPS learners used to conduct chemistry practical activities (Chi-square =3.272, df=3, p=0.351>0.05). As such the study recommended that teachers should emphasize more on acquisition and enhancement of developed SPS among learners, and should also consider the cognitive development level of learners when designing chemistry 5124 practical activities. Keywords: Learner, Science process skills, Practical activity. | en |
| dc.identifier.uri | https://dspace.unza.zm/handle/123456789/8229 | |
| dc.language.iso | en | en |
| dc.publisher | The University of Zambia | en |
| dc.subject | Chemistry--Study and teaching--Zambia | en |
| dc.title | Learners’ science process skills for chemistry 5124 practical activities: a case of selected secondary schools of Kitwe district. | |
| dc.type | Thesis | en |