The impact of the utilization of improvised laboratory materials in teaching integrated science on the academic performance of basic school students in South Tongu District

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of the use of improvised science instructional materials on the academic performance of basic school students. The study focused on ten basic schools in the South Tongu District of the Volta Region of Ghana. The instruments that were used to collect data includedResearcher-designed Performance Test in Integrated Science (PTIS) and a census sheet. The research design employed in this study was a cross-sectional survey that used pre- and post-tests as the prime instrument for data collection. The population for this study was all the 5,962 JHS students in the 47 JHSs in the South Tongu district. Ten (10) Junior High Schools were used in this study. JHS 1, 2 and 3 students were randomly selected from the 10 purposively selected schools. Thirty (30) students each comprising 10 students each from JHS 1, 2 and 3 were selected from each of the 10 schools to make a sample size of three hundred (300). Out of the 300 sampled students, 115 were females and 185 males. The study revealed that science laboratory materials needed for effective teaching and learning of integrated science were woefully inadequate in the selected schools. This was contrary to the recommendation given by the JHS syllabus that for effective teaching and learning science, schools should have science equipment and materials and other requirements such as space for raising crops and animals. The study also disclosed that the students involved in the study performed poorly in the pretest and therefore have difficulty in the topics selected for the study. The pre-test results showed that as many as 137 students obtained below 10, 92 scored from 10 to 13 and 71 got from 14 to 17. The mean score of the pre-test was 10.69. However, the findings from posttest show that after the students were taught the selected topics through the use of improvised instructional materials, University of Education, Winneba http://ir.uew.edu.gh 7 they performed credibly. The results indicated that, 121 students obtained from 12 to 14, 142 scored from 15 to 17 whilst 47 got from 18 to 20. The mean score of the post test was 15.23. As regards the impact of the use of improvised materials on the academic performance of male and female students, the study results showed that 78 male students scored from 12 to 14, 73 scored from 15 to 17 and 34 scored from 18 to 20 in the post-test. The mean score was therefore 15.12. The female students however performed better in the post-test than their male counterparts with a mean score of 15.41. Thus, 43 female students scored from 12 to 14, 59 scored from 15 to 17 while 13 scored from 18 to 20. There was significant difference [t (1.97) = -19.82, p < 0.05] between the pre-test and post-test scores of students selected for the study. In view of this, the null hypothesis (Ho) which stated that there was no significant difference between pre-test and post-test results of students taught with improvised materials was rejected. There was statistical significant difference between the performance of male and female students in the post-test [t (1.97) = -1.26, p <0.05]. The negative t-test obtained shows that there was an increase in the mean score of the female students. In view of this, the null hypothesis that there was no significant difference between the academic performance of male and female students taught with improvised science materials was rejected.