Secondary School Students’ Mastery of Integrated Science Process Skills in Siaya County, Kenya

Abstract

The study investigated secondary school students' mastery of Integrated Science Process Skills (ISPS) among co-educational schools and the influence of grade level, gender, and school location in Siaya County, Kenya. The study used a causal-comparative design with purposive sampling technique. A 30-item Test of Integrated Science Process Skill (TISPS) developed by Kazeni (2005) was administered. The instrument assesses the skills of controlling variables, defining operationally, formulating hypotheses, experimenting and interpreting data. The instrument was administered to 429 students, 117, 108, 101 and 103 in grades 9, 10, 11 and 12 respectively drawn from one urban co-educational school (n = 215) and one rural co-educational school (n = 214). The data were analyzed by grade level using one-way ANOVA and by gender and school location using an independent sample t-test. The findings indicated moderate mastery of ISPS and statistically significant grade level differences between grades 9 and 10, 10 and 11, 11 and 12, 9 and 11, 9 and 12, and 10 and 12; Gender differences in favor of boys and school location differences in favor of urban school students in mastery of ISPS. The following conclusions are made with regard to integrated science process skills: Mastery of ISPS increases with grade level; boys have a higher mastery of ISPS than girls; the urban school has a higher mastery of ISPS than the rural school. Implications for practice and further research are herein explicated.

Edmodo-Based Science Module Development on Students’ Mastery of Science Process Skills: Need Analysis

“…Although most teachers were found not to have difficulties applying the elements of SPS, as shown in Table 6, but it is not the case to some students. This coincides with the findings of a study conducted on secondary school students showed that the mastery of ISPS, namely identifying variables, defining operationally, identifying hypotheses, interpreting data and graphs and designing experiments, are at a moderate level with elements of operationally defining skills are in the lowest level (Ong & Johairi, 2010;Ongowo, 2017;Yew & Sunita, 2015). These findings are also supported by a study conducted by Lue (2020).…”

“…One of the goals in science education is to acquire Science Process Skills (SPS), a skill required by a person to solve problems and issues faced in daily life (Yang & Tsai, 2010). In the construction of scientific knowledge and conceptual change, most science curriculum makers acknowledged science process skills as an important tool (Ongowo, 2017). According to Edy Hafizan et al, (2012), a science curriculum that emphasizes SPS will enable students to improve their mastery of critical thinking skills, creative thinking skills and problem-solving skills, which are the skills needed to fulfill future jobs requirements.…”

Exploring Basic and Integrated Science Process Skills and Their Impact on Science Achievement among University Students

“…Jack (2018) also found that the integrated science process was difficult for students. However, Ongowo (2017) analyzing the level of mastery of integrated SPSs of lower secondary and upper secondary students found them to have achieved an average level of acquisition with the highest performance for the highest grade. Considering these research findings from other countries, it is important to emphasize that, although the level of understanding of integrated SPSs is average or low in most developing countries, the performance shown by the students in this study is immensely poor and of great concern in learning and understanding of science concepts.…”

The Dominant Science Process Skills Practiced by Pupils During Teaching and Learning of Science

“…They receive information about items or occurrences in their environment using all their senses. Through hands-on activities such as science experiments, children engage their various senses by touching, feeling, moving, observing, listening, and smelling, as well as occasionally testing objects in a controlled environment (Ongowo, 2017). This assists pupils in progressing from concrete to more complex thinking levels (Wood et al, 2007), hence promoting higher order thinking abilities necessary for 21st century success.…”