Abstract:
This study investigated the effect of Science, Technology and Society – Approach (STS-A), on Junior Secondary School Students’ Acquisition of Science Process Skills (SPS) in Basic Science in Enugu Education Zone of Enugu State. A pre-test-Post-test quasi experimental design was used for the study. Three research questions and three null hypotheses tested at 0.05 level of significant guided the study. The sample consists of ninety-five Basic Science Students randomly selected from two out of the ten co-educational secondary schools in Enugu Educational Zone. In each of the schools sampled, a stream of JS 2 was randomly sampled for experimental treatment and control respectively. Students in the experimental group were taught using STS-A while students in the control group were taught using Traditional approach (lecture method). Both groups were taught the same STS-topics for four weeks at the end of which data was collected. The instrument used for data collection is a 40-item Science Process Skill Acquisition Rating Scale (SPSARS) developed by the researcher. The instrument was validated by experts in Science Education. The reliability of the instrument was determined using Cronbach alpha reliability index and Kendall’s coefficient of concordance (W). Mean and Standard deviation was used to answer the research questions while ANCOVA was employed to test the null hypotheses. It was found that STS-Approach proved a more effective approach to the acquisition of Science Process Skills than the Traditional approach. Gender has no influence on the mean acquisition of Science Process Skill of students taught using STS-A. The researcher therefore, recommended the use of STS-A to enhance Science Process Skill Acquisition in Basic Science.
