Introduction Sample

PREDICTORS OF STUDENTS’ PERFORMANCE IN CHEMISTRY LABORATORY

OF SELECTED PRIVATE SCHOOLS

(Estrella, 2009)

RATIONALE

Experimenting is one of the tasks in Science Class. No science course is ever complete unless each student

has been given the opportunity to conduct an experiment. It opens opportunities o students to be exposed to hands-

on activities where they discover the answers to their scientific queries. Laboratory activities requires students to

use many of the other scientific process skills, like observation, measurements, inference, prediction and

generalization.

All levels of students from primary, secondary, and tertiary levels conduct laboratory activities. It is a

well-known fact that college students taking up professional courses cannot do away with science as one of their

basic subjects. However, it has been observed that students still find difficulties even in identifying common

laboratory apparatus and following simple procedures. This is despite the fact that they have been already exposed

to science activities during their high school years.

SETTING

To cite, they have Integrated Science in their first year, Biology in their second year, Chemistry in third

year, and Physics in their fourth year. It is therefore expected that they are familiar with the basics in science

experiments. However, this is not the case. Most of the time, the teacher repeats simple laboratory procedures,

whereby, it must be explained properly “to the letter”, and all the observations would lead the teacher to teach the

“ABCs” of doing laboratory activity so that they can perform it correctly. In addition, the teacher would have to

orient the students on the basic and most commonly used laboratory apparatus.
LITERATURE FOUNDATION

However, as cited by Cayugkeng (2008), in the Philippine educational system, one of the most disturbing

problems is the poor achievement of Filipino students in the areas of science and technology. Educators agree

that one of the major causes of this problem has to do with the method of facilitating the learning of science

concepts, processes, and poor laboratory practices inside the classroom. Somehow, this indicates that the current

methods do not fully develop the skill of both students and teachers. Also, Puno (2005), citing specific issues

concerning higher education, mentioned that academic excellence must be viewed in terms of excellence in

practical or applied learning theories. Application of these theories and concepts will make the learner a

productive member of society. It is not the quantity of knowledge but more importantly, how much of these

knowledge can be put to good use. We need graduates whose lives will be full of action and not merely have

heads which are just full of facts.

SERIOUSNESS OF THE PROBLEM

Earlier studies show that the one of the problems of students, in general, is the failure to connect the

chemistry principles they have learned in class with the problems in the real world. They fail to appreciate

chemistry concepts and draw connections between them, because chemistry is usually presented as a very

theoretical, abstract body of knowledge. This is especially true if the teacher is not properly trained, which is often

the sad plight of Philippine secondary schools. Coupled with poor learning facilities and materials, the result is a

failure in science education.

GENERAL OBJECTIVE

At present, the researcher, as a college instructor, is experiencing the abovementioned scenario in science

education. If not dealt with, it might result to poor performance in science laboratory activities. It is in this light

that this research was conducted to determine the factors affecting the students’ performance in Chemistry

Laboratory.

GENERAL PURPOSE

Upon addressing the problem, the general purpose of this study is to improve the performance of science

instructors, which will result to improved students’ performance in achievement examinations and a positive

impact on school effectiveness.