Availability of Well-Equipped, Frequency of Use and Students Participation in Basic Laboratory Activities of Junior Secondary School Students in Gurara Local Government Area of Niger State

Abstract

Science has been considered as the bedrock upon which the modern day technological breakthrough is built and to achieve this, the inculcations of the scientific principles demands the initiation of a child right from the early stage of life. All scientific research and experiments are done in the laboratory. Laboratory is seen as a room equipped for scientific research. Many secondary schools are not measuring up to standard of the required resources in the laboratory, thus this study which is concerned with the survey of science laboratories on Basic science students’ performance in Gurara local government area, Niger state tends to find out the availability, frequency of use and student participation of the use of laboratory resources. The study adopted a descriptive survey research method which used questionnaire as instrument for data collection. Three specific objectives and three research questions were raised to help the study. Literatures were reviewed under conceptual frame work, theoretical work and empirical studies. The population of the study comprised of Basic Science JSS II students in Nigeria and the target population comprised of all the Basic science student in the secondary schools in Gurara local government. The study used the sample size of a total of 343 respondents through use of the Slovenes formula (1978). A structured questionnaire was used for data collection is divided into three (3) sections and comprised of 18 items. The instrument was validated by four experts and trial tested for reliability. Data were analyzed using Mean score, Standard deviation and Ranking. The result of the findings indicated that there are laboratories in selected secondary schools in Gurara, though not well-equipped with modern laboratory resources. The study also revealed that the teachers do not frequently use the laboratory facilities available for Basic science. The students are always allow to use the laboratory for practical in basic science. Recommendations made include among others that the available laboratories should be equipped with Modern electronic laboratory resources through the parents’ teachers association (PTA) and need to ensure that both teachers and students of basic science in junior secondary schools in Gurara and suggestions were made for further studies on Factors for limited usage of laboratory in teaching the basic science and Teachers’ perception on laboratory equipment use in basic science.