Influence of Location: Application of Games as a Teaching Method for Science Process Skills Acquisition in Junior Secondary School South East Nigeria

Abstract

The present study was designed to evaluate the influenced of location on using game-based teaching method in acquisition of science process skills in junior secondary school south east Nigeria. The quasi-experimental design was used for this study. The population of this study consisted of the entire Junior Secondary School, Basic Science students one (JSS 1) of the thirty-five (35) public secondary schools in Enugu Education Zone. The sample for the study was one hundred and sixty (160) Basic Science students and four Basic Science teachers from co-education secondary schools in Enugu Education Zone of Enugu state. Stratified random sampling was employed to obtain the schools used for the study. The instruments used for the study was the Test of Science Process Skills Acquisition Test (TOSPSAT). The instruments were given to four (4) experts in science education, two (2) science educators (measurement and evaluators) and two (2) experienced integrated teachers for face and content validation.  The reliability of TOSPSAT was done using Kuder-Richardson formula 20 (K-R 20). The research questions were answered using mean and standard deviation. Analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) was used for testing hypotheses at P<0.05 level of significance.  The students taught using game teaching approach had higher mean science process skills acquisition scores in all the skills studied than those taught using conventional method. There was a significant difference in the mean science process skills acquisition scores of subjects exposed to games than those exposed to conventional method. Location of school had no significant effect on the mean science process skills acquisition scores of students exposed to treatment and conventional method. The interaction effect of instructional methods and location on mean science process skills acquisition scores was not significance. The findings of this implies that students, teachers and curriculum planners should adopt the use of games in teaching and learning processes.

Keywords: games, science process skills, location influence

DOI: 10.7176/JEP/11-18-13

Publication date:June 30th 2020