An Action Research on Improving the Interest of Students Toward Practical Sessions: First Year Animal Production and Technology Department in CANR, Wolkite University, Ethiopia

Abstract

Education play great role and contributes to economic grow as well as economic development in Ethiopia. Therefore, this study aimed to analyzing interest of students toward practical session of first year animal production and technology department in CANR, Wolikite University. The specific objective of study was to assess the interests of student towards practical session active participation, to identify factors that determine student participation interests in practical session and to improve the active participation of students in practical session. The study was based on cross-sectional data collected from 32 first year animal production and technology student in Agriculture College, Wolikite University Ethiopia. For data collection, personal student observation in practical session class, focus group discussion and questioner were used. Descriptive and econometric model with STATA version 14 were used for data analysis. As descriptive statistics result revealed that about 37.5 percent of the respondents were always participate in practical classes and the remaining 62.5 percent attends practical classes sometimes. From 32 student, 46.9 percent of the students revealed that their instructors provided different encouragement advice on practical classes. The remaining 53.1 percent have reported that they have not got encouragement advice from their instructors. From the actively participating students, 60 percent believed that active participation in practical classes was excellent while 33.3 percent and 6.7 percent believed that practical session was very good and good respectively. From the total sampled student, 56.3 percent believed that active participation in practical sessions help to improve the knowledge of course while 43.7 percent was in doubt of it and thus asserting that active participation has nothing to do with improving knowledge. According to the estimated logit model indicated, attitudes toward practical classes, attitudes for practical classes to improving the course knowledge were positively and statically significant at 10 and5 percent respectively. But the marginal effect of participation frequency affected active participation in practical classes negatively at 5 percent of probability level. After taken different intervention strategy, as table 3 show that the average score of the student with in quiz  from 5percent was 3.14 and 3.79 before and after implementation of our intervention respectively and also the average score of the overall student within their own test  result was 5.84 percent and 7.07pecent before and after implementation of our intervention respectively.

Keywords: Action Research, Logit Model

DOI: 10.7176/JEP/12-13-02

Publication date:May 31^st 2021