Effect of Practical Activities on Biology Students’ Cognitive and Psychomotor Skills in Essien Udim
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.32332/al-jahiz.v7i2.13649Keywords:
Biology education, Psychomotive task, Practical activities, Cognitive and educationAbstract
This study investigated the effects of practical activities on students’ cognitive and psychomotor performance in Biology in Essien Udim Local Government Area, Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria. The intervention focused on the topic of Food Test through hands-on practical activities. A quasi-experimental research design was employed, involving 275 Senior Secondary School Two (SS2) Biology students selected through simple random sampling from a population of 1,904 students across four secondary schools. Data were collected using the Biology Cognitive Achievement Test (BCAT) and Psychomotor Skills Acquisition Test (PSAT), and analysed using mean, standard deviation, and independent-samples t-tests at the 0.05 significance level. The findings showed that students who participated in practical activities achieved significantly higher cognitive performance than those taught using the lecture method (t = 2.53, p < 0.05). No significant gender difference was found in cognitive performance among students exposed to practical activities (t = 0.68, p > 0.05). However, psychomotor performance differed significantly by school location, with urban students outperforming their rural counterparts (t = 5.20, p < 0.05). No significant gender difference was observed in psychomotor performance among students in urban schools (t = 1.72, p > 0.05). The study concludes that practical activities on Food Test significantly enhance students’ cognitive and psychomotor performance in Biology. Therefore, practical activities should be integrated into Biology instruction, particularly in rural schools, to improve academic achievement and psychomotor skill acquisition.
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