The effect of practical work on science process skills and critical thinking development on senior high chemistry students

Abstract

This study determined the effect of conduct of chemistry practical work on the development of basic science process skills (measuring, observing, calculating, recording, predicting, classifying and inferring) and critical thinking among third year elective chemistry students. Two senior high schools in the Sekondi-Takoradi Metropolis of the western region of Ghana were selected for the study. The study was necessitated by the continuous poor performance of SHS chemistry students in the test of chemistry practical conducted by the West Africa Examinations Council over the years. The intrinsic case study design with multiple data source was employed in this study. The stratified purposive sampling adopting simple frequency counts was used in selecting 160 third year chemistry students. Two classes each consisting of Home Economics and General Science making a total of four strata was sampled from the two senior high schools. The participants for the study were maintained in their schools while the teachers conducted practical work for them. A Participant Observation Checklist and a Questionnaire on Science Process Skills were used to collect data on science process skill development in both schools. An Acid-Base Critical Thinking Test was administered to determine how the third year senior high student’s elective chemistry students employed their critical thinking in solving scientific problems. Intact Group Discussions was conducted after the study in both schools. The use of multiple instruments enabled the researcher to triangulate the results obtained from the study. The findings revealed that the third year elective chemistry students were not engaged in practical work during their first and second years. Practical work conducted in the two senior high schools did not aid the development of the students’ science process skills. The student’s inability to develop science process skills has affected the development of their critical thinking skills. Practical work conducted in the two schools has been focused primarily on helping the students pass the test of practical work conducted by WAEC to the neglect of development of science process skills. The situation has led to memorization of scientific concepts/facts without understanding. The researcher recommends that chemistry teachers employ modern innovative pedagogies in developing science process skills by conducting engaging practical work from first year through to third year.