FACTORS AFFECTING QUALITY AND EFFECTIVE PRACTICAL WORK IN SENIOR SECONDARY SCHOOL PHYSICS IN EBONYI STATE OF NIGERIA

Abstract

This study was carried out to identify the factors affecting quality and effective practical work in senior secondary school physics in Ebonyi state of Nigeria. One research question was developed in line with the purpose of the study. One null hypothesis was formulated and tested at 0.05 level of significance. The study adopted descriptive survey design. The population of the study is 207, and the sample comprised one hundred (100) public senior secondary school teachers from the area of study. This sample was drawn using multi-stage sampling technique. A–15 item instrument termed “Physics Practical Work Questionnaire (PPWQ)” was used by the researcher for data collection. The instrument was first validated by three experts and reliability was determined using Cronbach Alpha Statistics and the reliability got was 0.92. The administration and retrieval of instrument were through direct contact and use of research assistants with the respondents. Data collected were analysed using mean and standard deviation for the research questions while t-test statistics were used for testing the null hypothesis. The findings of the study revealed that items presented are factors affecting quality and effective practical work in senior secondary physics in Ebonyi state of Nigeria. Findings on the hypothesis tested revealed that there was no significant difference in the mean responses of teachers of physics from urban and rural schools in
Ebonyi state on the items presented. It was recommended that government and none governmental organizations should assist in the provision of the required facilities for effective teaching of practical physics in secondary schools in Ebonyi state.