CHAPTERONE
INTRODUCTION
Background to the Study
Generally, teaching is the art of helping someone to learn or acquire knowledge, skills and experience. To some school of thought, teaching is a complex art of science of guiding a pupil through a variety of selected experience to bring about a worthwhile change in behavior. Oyetunji (2020) threw his weight behind his view, when he asserted that teaching is a constructive, instructive and active process in which the teacher assumes the role of a strategic planner and making decision about relevant instructional strategies.
Mangual (2019) in his wealth of knowledge and experience succinctly said that learning brings about a permanent change in behaviour of an organism due to experience. In my own opinion, learning which is the outcome and paramount goal of teaching could be easily explained as relative change in mind, ideas, perception and above all behaviour that sum up to disposition of human being due to experience or observation.
The word biology is derived from the greek words /bios/ meaning /life/ and /logos/ meaning /study/ and is defined as the science of life and living organisms. An organism is a living entity consisting of one cell e.g. bacteria, or several cells e.g. animals, plants and fungi.
Aspects of biological science range from the study of molecular mechanisms in cells, to the classification and behaviour of organisms, how species evolve and interaction between ecosystems. Biology often overlaps with other sciences; for example, biochemistry and toxicology with biology, chemistry, and medicine; biophysics with biology and physics; stratigraphy with biology and geography; astrobiology with biology and astronomy. Social sciences such as geography, philosophy, psychology and sociology can also interact with biology, for example, in administration of biological resources, developmental biology, biogeography, evolutionary psychology and ethics.
Biology is a natural science subject concerned with the study of life and living organisms, including their structure, function, growth, evolution, distribution, identification and taxonomy. Modern biology is a vast field, composed of many branches and sub-disciplines. However, despite the broad scope of biology, there are certain general and unifying concepts within it that govern all study and research, consolidating it into single, coherent field. In general, biology recognizes the cell as the basic unit of life, genes as the basic unit of heredity, and evolution as the engine that propels the synthesis and creation of new species.
It is also understood today that all the organisms survive by consuming and transforming energy and by regulating their internal environment to maintain a stable and vital condition known as homeostasis. Sub-disciplines of biology are defined by the scale at which organisms are studied, the kinds of organisms studied, and the methods used to study them: biochemistry examines the rudimentary chemistry of life; molecular biology studies the complex interactions among biological molecules; botany studies the biology of plants; cellular biology examines the basic building-block of all life, the cell; physiology examines the physical and chemical functions of tissues, organs, and organ systems of an organism; evolutionary biology examines the processes that produced the diversity of life; and ecology examines how organisms interact in their environment.
The Society of Biology is a single unified voice for biology: advising Government and influencing policy; advancing education and professional development; supporting our members, and engaging and encouraging public interest in the life sciences. The Society represents a diverse membership of over 80,000 - including, students, practising scientists and interested non-professionals - as individuals, or through learned societies and other organisations. We are committed to promoting biology as a subject of choice to students in schools, colleges and universities. We support and recognise excellence in biology teaching; champion a biology curriculum that challenges students and encourages their passion for biology; support young scientists through higher education, and provide career guidance at all levels.
Biology is a practical science. Practical activities are not just motivational and fun: they also enable students to apply and extend their knowledge and understanding of biology in novel investigative situations, which can aid learning and memory, and stimulate interest. High quality, appropriate biology experiments and investigations are the key to enhanced learning, and clarification and consolidation of theory. Practical activities are not just motivational and fun: they also enable students to apply and extend their knowledge and understanding of biology in novel investigative situations, which can stimulate interest and aid learning and retention. Crucially, practical work gives students an understanding of how biological knowledge is generated by experiment and observation.
Science is the study of the natural things around us (Modern Biology). Biology being a branch of science involves the study of living things. Biology is the scientific study of living things. Traditionally, biology is divided into two branches viz; botany, the study of animals.
Some of the usefulness of biology were cited by Sarojini (2001), as follows: it helps in (i) scientific research and development of new tools and techniques which invariably improve the quality of our lives, (ii) finding applications in medicine, dentistry, vetenary science, agriculture and horticulture; (iii) biotechnology which include fields like genetic engineering and hybridoma technology (i) dealing with ecological problems such as over population, food shortage, erosion, pollution, disease etc.
Practical biology is the scientific study of the life and structure of plants and animals and their relative environments in real or experimental set-up rather than dwelling in the theory and ideas (Opuh, Eze and EzeMagu; 2018). On its preamble to the international senior secondary school certificate examination syllabus; West African Examination Council WAEC (1998-2003), buttresses the need for biology practical in teaching and learning of biology in the secondary schools. The syllabus was designed to assess candidates in;
i. Understanding of the structure and functions of living organisms as well as appreciation of nature.
ii. Acquisition of adequate laboratory and filed skills in order to carry out and evaluate experiments and projects in biology.
iii. Acquisition of necessary scientific skills. Example observing, classifying and interpreting biological data etc. In previous edition WAEC Syllabus (2005), stated that great importance should be attached to experimental work and use of control experiments. It was recommended that, whenever possible throughout the whole courses, candidates should be aware of practical application of what is being studied. From the foregoing, we can understand that biology practical lesson is most essential for effective teaching and learning of biology in secondary schools. Hence this study intends to investigate relevance of Biology practicals to effective teaching and learning of Biology concept in senior secondary schools in Agege local government area of Lagos state.
Statement of Problem:
Despite the emphasizes on importance of the relevance of Biology, there is, still a high rate of failure in biology as revealed by the analysis of the May/ June SSCE result of 2019- 2020.Educators are seeking for alternative ways to teach biology so as to change this situation. The problem is, how can practical activities of teaching improve student’s academic achievement in biology? And what are some considerations for implementing practical activities’ method?
Purpose of the Study
The general objective of this study is to investigate the relevance of Biology practicals to effective teaching and learning of Biology concept in senior secondary schools in Agege local government area of Lagos state.
. Its specific objectives are:
i. Find out the relevance of Biology practicals to teaching and learning of Biology.
ii. Pinpoint effects of Biology practicals on students’ academic performance in Biology.
iii. Highlight the advantages of Biology practicals to teaching and learning of Biology.
Significance of the Study
The findings in this study will be useful to classroom teachers, curriculum planners, students, researchers and parents. For teachers they will be better informed on how to help and guide their students on better ways of carrying out practical activities. This study will help to develop interest of practical activities in students and will also help students to be more resourceful during lessons.
The study could be beneficial to curriculum planners who would design functional curriculum by taking into considerations practical activities. Parents will be better informed on how to encourage and help their wards to create interest in biology practical.
Scope of the Study
This study was limited to public senior secondary schools in Agege local government area of Lagos State. It involves students offering Biology as a subject.
Research Questions
The following research questions were raised to guide the study:
i. What is the relevance of Biology practicals to teaching and learning of Biology?
ii. What is the effect of Biology practicals on students’ academic performance in Biology?
iii. What are the advantages of Biology practicals to teaching and learning of Biology?
Definition of Terms
The following terms were operationally defined in this study:
Teaching: This is the process of transferring ideas through methods by the teacher to the students’ in order to ensure learning.
Learning: This is the process of acquiring new ideas which involve change in behavior after acquiring new concept.
Students: someone who is studying at a university, school etc
Classroom: a room that you have lessons in at a school or college
Teacher: someone whose job is to teach, especially in a school
School: a place where children are taught
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