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Laboratory Facilities And Its Impact On Students’ Learning Outcome In Agricultural Science
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CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background of the study
We currently live in a world of science and technology, in which humans face concerns and problems that have their origins in science. Science and technology have grown in importance as economic and social development tools. Nature has been properly utilized and transformed into valuable resources for a better life in the globe thanks to science. Man enjoys a pleasant living inside society thanks to the huge rising trends in science education. (FGN,2004). Trends in the agriculture industry indicates a need for agricultural education to teach scientific problem solving, prompting the United States Department of Agriculture to recommend that students seeking future employment in the agriculture industry have "basic science skills and the ability to solve problems with scientific applications," which can be obtained through laboratory experience (USDA, 2005). This is because, as long as science is both a product and a process, the laboratory will be at the center of scientific research. The extent of optimal laboratory practices that will enable learners' learning of science process skills and proficiency in science ideas is determined by the availability of laboratory equipment, facilities, and materials. Several scholars have exerts the importance of school laboratory in different ways.Those interested with improving science understanding through practical learning should be positive, given the prevalent notion that secondary agriculture instructors use agricultural laboratories. Agricultural education, by its very nature, is well suited to teaching scientific content in an agricultural context (Enderlin & Osborne, 1992; NRC, 2009; Thompson, 1998; Washburn & Myers, 2008). Many of the exercises created for use in agricultural laboratories, on the other hand, are geared on improving psychomotor abilities rather than academic reinforcement (Franklin, 2008; Johnson, Wardlow, & Franklin, 1997). Agricultural laboratories, which include mechanics labs, greenhouses, livestock facilities, land laboratories, and aquaculture laboratories, among others, are currently thought of as a way to give students practice applying theories learned in the classroom (McCormick, 1994); however, the emergence of scientific agricultural education may provide an opportunity for these labs to become a keystone in the teaching of scientific skills and problem solving.
Laboratory practicals are determined by the level of preparation of appropriate instructional materials in the laboratory and the teacher's ability to use them effectively and efficiently. Hence, the difficulties of completing practical work in under-equipped laboratories have led some teachers to divide science classes into practical and theory sections, or to postpone practical work until the second or third term. Agricultural laboratory empowers teachers to improve student experiences by designing laboratory instruction to focus on scientific problem solving. This will better prepare them for scientifically based employment in agriculture.
CHAPTER ONE -- [Total Page(s) 3]
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