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UNIVERSITY OF CAGAYAN VALLEY

SCHOOL OF CRIMINOLOGY

Chapter 1

THE PROBLEM AND ITS BACKGROUND

Introduction

General Chemistry is one of the subjects being

undertaken by all students in the tertiary level as part of

the requirement mandated by the Commission on Higher

Education. Criminology students studying Chemistry subject

are expected to be taught the procedures, methodologies and

applications in laboratory activities. They are expected to

acquire scientific skills of observing, reporting,

organizing of information, generalizing, predicting or

speculating and designing experiment to test hypothesis.

Learning General Chemistry is important for the

Criminology students for them to know how to understand by

heart the use of laboratory since they are the future

forensic investigators.

Laboratory requirement are imperative to carryout

Chemistry laboratory activities including the involvement of

students in the laboratory work to ensure their safety

guidelines, clothing requirement, handling chemicals and

handling glassware and equipment. Laboratory activities

develop the scientific skills of the students in acquiring

analytical thinking and can make better decisions in

whatever activities they will do. Other perceptions from the

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students claimed that Chemistry is a difficult subject.

Student’ fear towards this subject attributed to their

understanding and how in dealing about the challenging

nature of this subject, inclusion of common facts, and its

disconnection from reality. This fear leads to loss of

interest in the science. Some students are determined to

learn and willing to take up new challenges while others

seem uninterested or unmotivated. Some of them demonstrate

high levels of confidence in their performance while others

seem unsure of themselves.

As Criminology students of the University of Cagayan

Valley, the researchers have been taken up this subject

during their third year first semester and encountered

difficulties and predicaments in learning the subject

because of crowded number of students in their class. Lack

of equipment and apparatus caused the researchers difficulty

in performing laboratory activities.

With these predicaments in the laboratory activities,

this experience prompted the researchers to conduct this

study to determine the level of performance of the Third

Year Criminology students of the University of Cagayan

Valley in their laboratory activities in General Chemistry

as a basis for subject enhancement.

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Conceptual Framework

This study recognizes the principle behind the Chinese

maxim; “I hear and I forget, I see and I remember, I do and

I understand’’. This explain that the learner must be active

not passive to maximize learning. This research work based

its framework on the constructivism theory of John Dewey

(1859-1952) and Jean Piaget (1896-1952).

Constructivism Theory is about how we come to know what

we know. It is founded on the presence that children,

adolescents, and even adults construct or make meaning about

the world around them based on the context of their existing

knowledge (Llewellyn D. 2005).

This study further concerned on cognitive ability of

the students and their performance in the actual classroom

interaction.

The Input-Process-Output Model will be utilized as

conceptual framework of the study as shown below.

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Input Process Output

1. Profile of the respondents in

terms of: 1. Assessing the profile of the
respondents.
1.1. Age
1.2. Gender 2. Assessing the level of performance Assessed level of
1.3. Civil Status of the subjects in their laboratory performance of the Third
1.4. Parent’s Educational activities in General Chemistry by Year Criminology students
Attainment teacher relative to above dimensions. of the University of
1.5. Occupation of Parents Cagayan in their
1.6. Ethnicity laboratory activities in
1.7. Religion 3. Testing the significant difference
among the level of performance General Chemistry as a
2. Level of performance of the of the subjects by teacher relative basis for subject
subjects in their laboratory activities in to the above. enhancement for the First
General Chemistry by teacher relative Semester of School Year
to? 2017-2018 and proposed
4. Testing the significant between actions to enhance the
2.1. Safety the profile variables and the level
performance of the
2.2. Clothing of performance of the subjects by
2.3. Handling Chemicals teacher. subjects in their laboratory
2.4. Handling Glassware and activites.
Equipment
5. Assessing the laboratory
activities that are high and low.

Feedback

Figure 1: The Paradigm of the Study Showing the Relationship

of the Study
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The figure above shows the input-process-output model

of the study.

The input box views the profile variables of the

respondents particularly age, gender, civil status, religion

and ethnicity and the level of performance of the

respondents relative to the above dimensions.

The Process Box contains the research procedures that

the researchers will be applied in order to gather data on

the profile variables of the respondents particularly age,

gender, civil status, religion and ethnicity, and the level

of performance of the respondents relative to the above

dimensions.

The Output Box contains the objective or the desired

results intended for the study.

Statement of the Problem

This study will determine the level of performance of

the Third Year Criminology students of the University of

Cagayan in their laboratory activities in General Chemistry

as a basis for subject enhancement for the First Semester of

School Year 2017-2018.

Specifically, it will seek to answer the following

questions:

1. What is the profile of the subjects by teacher

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relative to:

1.1. Age

1.2. Gender

1.3. Civil status

1.4. Parents Highest Educational Attainment

1.5. Occupation of Parents

1.6. Ethnicity

1.7. Religion

2. What is the level of performance of the subjects in

their laboratory activities in General Chemistry by teacher

relative to:

2.1. Safety

2.2. Clothing

2.3. Handling Chemicals

2.4. Handling Glassware and Equipment

3. Is there a significant difference among the level of

performance of the subjects by teacher relative to the above?

4. Is there a significant relationship between the profile

of the respondents and their level of performance in their

laboratory activities by teacher?

5. In what laboratory activities are the subjects high and

low?

6. What actions maybe propose to enhance the performance of

the subjects in their laboratory activities?

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Hypothesis

This study will be guided by the following hypotheses:

1. There is no significant difference among the level of

performance of the subjects by teacher relative to the above.

2. There is no significant relationship between the profile

of the respondents and their level of performance in their

laboratory activities by teacher.

Significance of the Study

This study will be deemed beneficial to the following:

School Administrators. The result of the study

provides the school administrators valuable data and

information on how they can extend their full support to the

Criminology students that encounters problems in studying

and learning the subject and to be aware of the need of

Chemistry Instructors.

Chemistry Instructors. This study helps Chemistry

Instructors to be fully equip with knowledge in the conduct

of their classroom activities with a suitable solution to

problems as well as ideas for teachings of Chemistry. It

further encourages instructors to acquire the best measures

to use improve teaching and learning and to improve the

students’ performance in the said subject.

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Students. This study is significant to students as

direct clientele of the teaching-learning process for they

will be equipped with the recent developments in Chemistry

which may help to develop and improve their academic

performance.

Parents. This study will be beneficial for the parents

for them to encourage their children to take General

Chemistry and assist them in terms of financial and moral

supports so that they will become more motivated and lessen

the problems that they will encounter in achieving the

objectives of the subject.

Researchers. The conduct of this study provides great

help for the researchers to search an answer to the level of

performance of Third Year Criminology students in their

General Chemistry subject in the University of Cagayan

Valley.

Future Researchers. The result of this study provides

future researchers important data for the conduct of similar

studies which use other variables not included in the

present study.

Scope and Delimitation

The focus of this study is to determine the level of

performance of the Third Year Criminology Students in their

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Chemistry laboratory activities during first semester of

school year 2017-2018. A descriptive-correlational research

design will be used to determine the level of performance of

the respondents in their laboratory activities. The study

will make use of a survey questionnaire checklist to gather

data on the questions to be investigated.

Definition of Terms

For better understanding of the study, the following

terms were operationally defined:

Clothing. It is a requirement for the students and the

teachers to wear prior to any laboratory activities to be

taken up inside the laboratory room.

General Chemistry. A natural science subject being

offered to Third Year Criminology students which comprises

of 3 units of lecture and 2 units of laboratory.

Handling Chemicals. These are the proper procedures to

be taken up by the learners on how they deal with chemicals

during their laboratory activities.

Handling Glassware and Equipment. These are the proper

procedures to be taken up by the learners on how they use

glassware and other equipment during their laboratory

activities.
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Inadequate laboratory. Insufficient laboratories which

lack chemicals, apparatus and equipment.

Laboratory. It is the place where the Criminology

students perform their experimental activities.

Safety. These are the safety guidelines set forth in

using the laboratory.

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Chapter 2
REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE AND STUDIES

This chapter presents the review of related literature

and studies which will help the researchers to ascertain the

similarities and the difference of the present study with

other studies. These study shares similarities with the

related studies in terms of variables describe to the

profile of the respondents.

Related Literature

Learning Chemistry: An Overview

Chemistry is often regarded as a difficult subject, an

observation which sometimes stop learners from continuing

with studies in chemistry. This seeks to bring together the

general findings obtained from research over the past few

decades for both school pupils and university students in an

attempt to suggest the key reasons for this difficulty.

Suggestions are made on ways to minimize the problems based

on understandings of attitudes and motivation as well as the

psychological understandings of how learning takes place. In

looking at the huge range of papers, which have addressed

various aspect of the learning difficulties, related to

chemistry, it is not easy to categorize the work into neat

compartments. In the analysis presented here, the work has

been divided into five main areas of concern, recognizing

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that there are overlaps and potential omissions. Each is

discussed briefly. (a) Curriculum Content The advent of

revised school syllabuses in the 1960s and 1970s in many

countries saw a move towards the presentation of school

chemistry in a logical order, the logic usually being that

of the experienced academic chemist. Similarly, early

chapters in almost all textbooks for first level higher

education courses start with topics like atomic theory, line

spectra, Schrödinger equations, orbital, hybridization,

bonding, formulae, equations, balancing ionic equations,

calculations, and stoichiometry. This is the 'grammar and

syntax’ of chemistry but is daunting for the student. An

argument against this 'logical' presentation cogently: The

logical order may well not be psychologically accessible to

the learner. Much school chemistry, taught before 1960, laid

great emphasis on descriptive chemistry, memorization being

an important skill to achieve examination success. The sub-

microscopic interpretation and symbolic representation were

left until later. Today, the descriptive is taught alongside

both the ‘micro’ and ‘representational’. It has argued that

the learner cannot cope with all three levels being taught

at once, and Gabel supports this argument. Indeed, today,

there is a danger that chemistry depends too much on the

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representational, with inadequate emphasis on the

descriptive.

The Challenge of Effective Teaching of Chemistry

It was discovered that most teachers are in the

teaching profession not by choice, they consider it to be a

waiting ground for better jobs. “We have not gotten better

jobs, we are just passing time” said one of the teachers.

Such teachers have no passion teaching the subject. “I have

been teaching for the past fifteen years now but my heart is

not here”. This was another comment from a teacher, so how

can he put his best into what he does not consider a serious

job?

Under students’ attitudes towards chemistry, some

students had this to say “sometimes I use to fail chemistry

because, it is difficult to understand so I don’t have much

time for it”; “I did not like it too much, I prefer Physics

to it”; “I did not concentrate that’s why I failed while in

school, but the moment I concentrated I had a credit pass”.

Non-professionalism: This study revealed that some teachers

are teaching chemistry but they are not graduates of

chemistry. “I read textile science and technology”; “I read

electrical electronics but because of lack of teachers I

have been asked to teach chemistry”, yet another teacher

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remarked that he was a graduate of chemical engineering but

teaches chemistry.

Time Constraint: In some schools, where the student

population is large, the classes are divided into sets (set

I, II…) with two contacts of 40 minutes every week. While in

some schools it is four contacts of 40 minutes for other

days, and 35 minutes on Fridays. When asked if it is

possible for them to cover their syllabus before the

students face their external examinations, some had this to

say; “it is not possible to cover unless you do some extra

work outside your normal schedule but I am not ready to do

that now”; “you can’t cover because the syllabus is too

wide, in fact we use to carry SS2 work to SS3, one of my

colleague who just came in claim she use to cover the

syllabus but for me I have been teaching for years and I

have not been able to cover it; “it is so hard to cover,

what we do is to skip some topics and brush over others”.

Since most of the topics are better understood when

demonstrated, the teachers were asked whether it is possible

for them under 40 to 80 minutes. Their response was “if you

try that you encroach into another person’s period” ;”I

don’t because the time is not enough, we leave everything

till when the students are preparing for WAEC and NECO”.
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Chemistry Workshop: Of the number of teachers interviewed,

only one had not attended a workshop on teaching chemistry.

“I have not attended any workshop since I started teaching

chemistry”; “I have attended many workshops and it has

helped me in teaching”. Class Size: Some teachers were asked

to what extent the size of their classes affect their

teaching. Their comments; “I have an average number of 90

students in a class and I teach three classes, it has a

negative effect on my efficiency because, firstly, class

management is a problem, secondly, I can’t be sure whether

each student is understanding or participating in the

learning process”. Another teacher responded; “I have a

total 70 students in each of the classes I teach, so I spend

a lot of time controlling the class and the actual time for

teaching is very small and this affects the student’s

performances in their final examinations”

Conditions of service/ Remunerations: Poor remuneration and

poor staff welfare has destroyed the morale of most

teachers. One of them noted; “With this kind of chicken

change I am collecting, do you think if a parent

bring N40,000.00, for me to teach his child during the exam,

I will not collect? I have a family to cater for”. Because

of poor remuneration many have become petty traders while

abandoning their primary responsibilities. “I jump inside

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the bus travel through the night to Lagos to buy clothes for

sale just to make ends meet”.

Laboratory Adequacy: Chemistry is a subject that involves a

lot of demonstrations and can only be effectively taught in

the laboratory for easy access to instructional materials;

however, most schools lack essential facility. One of the

students said “I wanted to be a science student and started

offering chemistry, but we have no lab and no teacher, in

fact the only experiment we did was simple pendulum in

physics till we wrote WAEC, and I failed chemistry”.

Another student had this to say on the same issue “I am

now about to finish SS2 and we have just been introduced to

the lab, but I don’t enjoy the experiment because the place

is not conducive, it is a zinc house”. In the same school,

some students denied having a lab, “it still under

construction and we have never done any practical since we

started offering sciences”.

Some teachers had this to say: “We have a temporary

laboratory and not well equipped, the place is not conducive

and this makes the student not to concentrate during

practical lessons”; “we don’t conduct practical often, it is

usually a fire brigade approach when WAEC and NECO are

approaching”.
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Examination Malpractice: One of the teachers noted that:

“Most of the students choose to relax because of what will

come from their teachers and parents”. Another teacher

observed that, “exam malpractice affects the students to a

very great extent, the students, teachers, parents and

invigilators are all involved. I have had to seize many

solved exam questions sent in by parents”. Yet, it takes an

intelligent student to cheat successfully.

Choice of Career: Some of the students interviewed said they

are into sciences by their own personal choice not by

compulsion, but one of them said “my parents insisted I must

be a science student because all my brothers are arts

students and at least on of you must be an engineer”.

Practical work is seen as having an important role in

school science. In particular many have claimed that it has

an essential role in determining students’ attitudes to

school science and science beyond the classroom. However,

whilst there has been much research into students’ attitudes

to science there has been little research into their

attitudes to practical work in particular. This considers

students’ attitudes in terms of the cognitive, affective and

behavioral analytical framework developed by Rosenberg. The

study is based on data collected from three English

secondary schools within Key Stages 3 and 4. It involved

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questionnaires in biology, chemistry and physics as well as

school visits that involved lesson observations, semi-

structured interviews and focus groups with students. Field

notes and audio-recordings were made throughout these visits

for subsequent analysis. The findings suggest that secondary

students’ attitudes to practical work are, generally

speaking, positive. However, what also emerged was the

extent to which such attitudes to practical work differed,

not only across the three sciences, but also showed a

statistically significant decline as students progressed

through their secondary school education. The reason for

this being that the relative importance of the cognitive,

affective and behavioral domains changed as students moved

away from a focus on the enjoyment of science towards one

that was examination orientated. The implications of this

study suggests that teachers need to be far more aware that

students’ attitudes to practical work need to be consider

according to the science they are studying and their age,

rather than seeing their attitudes to practical work being

unchanging and uniform across the three sciences.

Related Studies
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Safety Guidelines

According to Magdara (2015) in her study entitled

“Chemistry Teaching in Selected Public High Schools in

Marawi City: An Assessment”, using qualitative method of

research utilizing the questionnaire, observation, document

analysis and interview in collecting data, the following

findings were obtained: A. Chemistry Teacher Educational

Qualification. The ages of the respondent ranged from 20 to

52 for the teacher-respondents and 14 to 17 for the student-

respondents. Nobody had undergraduate preparation of BS-

Chemistry or BSE major in Chemistry except B.S. chemical

engineering. Two of teachers graduated with (BSE) degree,

one finished Bachelor of Arts in Anthropology (A.B.). Three

of them took BS biology and two were graduate of BS Chemical

Engineering. Six teachers have earned units leading to

Master of Arts degree but they have not completed academic

requirements. Only two teachers have earned a master’s

degree. Their field of specialization however is not

chemistry but general science. B. Content Preparedness Based

on the total chemistry units earned both in undergraduates

and graduate level, only two of teacher had earned 32 units

in chemistry. Six teachers had earned chemistry units

ranging from 15-24 units. Two teachers had not earned any

chemistry units at all. Chemistry teachers’ rating of their

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preparedness to teach chemistry teachers are “very well

qualified” to teach some chemistry topics like symbols of

element, importance of chemistry to daily life and etc.

Forty-four percent felt “not well qualified” to teach the

following topics like “Heat and Chemical Reactions” and

others. However there are a lot of topics that many teachers

felt well qualified in teaching topics like writing Chemical

Formulas and others. C. Professional Development of

Chemistry Teachers. Four teacher respondents had attended

the (RSTC) summer training. Only one teacher has attended

the SMEMDP training, five of the respondents had attended

the RISE training. Nobody from these 9 respondents had

attended the PASMEP training and the DECS-ISP training and

PROBE. D. Chemistry Teachers’ Teaching Strategies. All the

chemistry teachers always used the lecture method. Question

and answer usually follows the lecture method. Practical

work, Group discussion, Making projects and other teaching

strategies were seldom used by the chemistry teacher. E.

Topics Covered by the Chemistry Teacher. Some of the topics

in chemistry have not been covered by the chemistry teachers

like Chemical Reactions, Heat of Reaction, Colligative

Properties of Solution and Uses of Radioactive Element and

others. F. Teaching Practices of Chemistry Teachers. The

most common practices of the teacher were: roll call before

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starting the lecture, brief review of the past lesson,

lecture proper before discussion and quizzes as well as

assignment G. Teachers’ Views about Learning. Students will

learn if they are interested. Learning takes place if there

is a change in the behavior of the learner. Learning is

construction of meaning H. Teachers’ Views about Teaching

The Discovery method. Teaching by using a variety of

teaching materials. Teaching is effective if the teacher

uses the “hands-on” approach I. Learning Facilities and

Resources The three schools lack the laboratory facilities

and other resources. J. Problems Encountered by Chemistry

Teachers and Students The schools lack laboratory materials

and facilities. Inadequate textbooks and facilities.

Teacher’s lack of mastery in the subject. Students lack

Mathematics and English proficiency. K. Students’ Suggestion

to Improve Chemistry Teaching and Learning Upgrading of the

chemistry teachers’ academic capabilities, Teachers should

employ a repertoire of teaching strategies. Teachers should

provide stimulating and encouraging classroom environment

that is conducive to learning. The school should initiate

the acquisition of necessary books, laboratory apparatuses

and other laboratory equipment and materials. L. Teachers’

Suggestions to Improve Chemistry Teaching. Teachers in

Chemistry must have a mastery of the lesson. Teachers in

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Chemistry should give laboratory activities / practical

works. Provide students with their own textbooks. Teachers

should use visual aids in presenting the topics.

Handling Chemicals

According to the study of Shultz et. al. (2015) in

their study entitled “Impact of General Chemistry on Student

Achievement and Progression to Subsequent Chemistry Courses:

A Regression Discontinuity Analysis” General chemistry is a

gateway course that impacts the trajectory of tens of

thousands of students each year, and its role in the

introductory curriculum as well as its pedagogical design

are the center of an ongoing debate. To investigate the role

of general chemistry in the curriculum, we report the

results of a posthoc analysis of 10 years of archived

student data (ca. 12,000 students) aimed at discovering

whether taking college-level general chemistry has an impact

on student performance in and progression to subsequent

chemistry courses. We introduce regression discontinuity; a

quasi-experimental method that originated in educational

psychology and can be used to estimate causal impacts of

educational treatment when ex ante randomization is not

feasible. Using regression discontinuity, we estimated a

positive impact of prior general chemistry coursework of

about one-fourth of a letter grade in two subsequent

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courses, Organic Chemistry I and a physical general

chemistry course for non-majors. We also found that taking

general chemistry had no impact on the likelihood that

students will progress to the final course in the non majors

sequence.

Handling Equipment

From the study of Ogundelewe (2014) entitled “Common

Difficulties Encountered by Students in Chemistry Practical

Class”, this study was carried out in order to know the

common difficulties encountered by students in handling

equipment on chemistry practical class in secondary schools

in LGA of Edo State. The number of teachers and students

involved were about fifty two students and seven for

teachers respectively. The criteria used for the selection

of the schools were based on their past performance in SSCE

(2006-2009). This research was based on four hypotheses, the

four hypotheses were validated and they are: There is

shortage of qualified chemistry teachers in secondary

schools. School laboratories are inadequately equipped.

There is over-population in laboratory rooms. Insufficient

practical periods on the time table. The schools involved

include the following - Obadan Secondary school, Eyaen

secondary school, Egba secondary school, Urukposa secondary

school, Ekose grammar school.

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The data for this was obtained through the use of

questionnaires, oral interview and the records of the SSCE

(2011-2012) the following conclusions were arrived at:

i. Enough named chemistry teachers who would be able to

perform and teach practical, immensely contribute to

the brilliant performance of students in chemistry.

ii. Equipped chemistry laboratory enable the teacher the

students to carryout practical exercise effectively.

iii. Students in a school that has sufficient laboratory

rooms and time allocated to the teaching chemistry

practical perform better in chemistry examination.

From these findings, it was recommended that:

Government should endeavour to provide adequate and equip

laboratories, classroom blocks and enough qualified

teachers.

iv. The 6-3-3-4 system of education should not be seen as

a change to subject matter but an introduction of

the technological orientation.

Clothing Requirements

According to Gilgit et.al. (2014) in their study entitled

“Level of Performance by High School Students in Chemistry

Classroom”, this research study conducted with four

chemistry teachers in three high schools (two government

schools and one private school) in region of Pakistan. The

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study investigated questions concerning common difficulties

high school (Grades 9 and 10) students experience in

chemistry classroom, the possible reasons for these

difficulties, and the ways in which teachers help students

overcome these difficulties. A qualitative case study method

was used to investigate the questions, which used in-depth

interviews with teachers, classroom observation, and post

observation discussion with the teachers, as main data

collection tools. The key findings of the study allude to a

huge gap between what is intended in the National Curriculum

in terms of students’ learning in chemistry and what

actually happens in the classroom where students learn

chemistry. Promoting in-depth learning appeared to be an

uphill task for the teachers. The main hurdle lies in

students’ inability to demonstrate a good understanding of

very basic concepts of the subject. Despite faced with such

a challenge, the teachers appear to be committed to teaching

their subject. The implications of the results of the study

are explained in the context of schools, teachers, and other

educational stakeholders by emphasizing the need for

synchronization and integration of efforts on the part of

schools. It forms parts of Pakistan’s international borders

with China to the northeast, Afghanistan to the northwest,

and Indian- and Pakistan-administered Kashmir to the

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southeast. The population is growing with the rate of 2.8%

and, according to a recent estimation, the population has

approached 1 million (Government of Pakistan, 2010). Despite

some positive socioeconomic changes, the region remains one

of the most disadvantaged in Pakistan. The geographical

isolation, hard climatic conditions, mountainous

environment, and scarcity of resources contribute to the

region’s continuing socioeconomic backwardness. People have

very limited access to essential facilities such as health

care, education, communication, electricity, and

transportation. Most people (90%) live in sparsely scattered

remote villages. The annual per capita income is estimated

at 60% of the national standard of US$1,047 (Government of

Pakistan, 2009a). The communities depend for their

livelihood on a variety of sources such as substance

farming, employment with government and private sector

organizations, and limited commercial activities (e.g.,

trade with China, tourism, retailing, transport, and running

restaurants). The major source of livelihood, however,

remains subsistence farming of wheat, corn, barely,

vegetables, fruits, and cattle. Marketing of fresh and dried

fruits such as apple, pear, cherries, apricot, almond, and

walnut contributes to families’ income.

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In the study of Lacson et.al. (2014) entitled “The

State of Science Teaching in the Grade School: Diagnosing

Issues and Problems”, the effectiveness of the learning

objectives and capability of the teacher were the highest

contributing factors that make the teaching of Science in

the 4th Grade at Mexico Elementary School effective.

Learning content still needs to be enhanced. As observed

from the Curriculum Guide of teachers, the learning contents

in all the grading periods were enriched, yet too many to

accomplish in a given period of two and a half months. The

teaching of Science at Mexico Elementary School is still

effective both to the teachers and pupils in so far as the

proficiency level of pupils is increasing though it is not

as high as the other core areas due to aforementioned

problems. Problems and challenges in the teaching and

learning of Science 4 in Mexico Elementary School exist but

are manageable to resolve. Instructional materials and

equipment in the Science laboratory are the foremost

problems of pupils and teachers as far as teaching and

learning Science 4 is concerned. Teachers experience

difficulties in instruction because all children do not have

textbooks as teachers. Available textbooks are very few and

old. Most of them are already destroyed and have missing

pages. It is always the teacher who carries the burden of

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doing research to be able to get information on the lessons

taught on a day to day basis.

Laboratory Clothing Requirements

From the study of Cantos (2014) entitled “Performance

of the Grade 8 Science Students of Fe Del Mundo National

High School in Oriental Mindoro”, the study was conducted by

focused on the difficulties encountered by the Grade 8

Students in Biology subject was anchored on the following

theories; Bandura’s Cognitive Social Learning Theory.

According to Albert Bandura children can learn novel-

response by merely observing the behavior of a model, making

mental representation to produce model behavior at some

future time. He believes that human development are the best

describe on continues reciprocal interaction between

children and their environment. The environment clearly

affects the child as stated but the child behavior is

brought to affect the environment as well. The implication

is that the children are actively in creating the very

environments that will influence their growth and

development. Piaget Genetic Epistemology, Piaget was

interested in how knowledge developed in human organisms.

Piaget was initially into biology and he also had a

background in philosophy. Knowledge from both these

disciplines influenced his theories and research of child

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development. Out of his researches, Piaget came up with the

stages of cognitive development. Piaget examined the

implication of his theory not only to aspects of cognition

but also to intelligence and moral development. His theory

has been applied widely to teaching and curriculum design

especially in the preschool and elementary curricula.

Skinner’s Trial and Error Theory, according to B.F. Skinner,

trial and error theory is a series of responses conducted

with correct response is achieved. In scientific method, a

solution is derived with available information until the

right solution is achieved. Trial and Error theory is like

experimentation. In relation to this research the students

have different learning capacity. Sometimes, the strategy

that you have used in one individual is not effective to the

other individual to learn. So you can change your strategy

for the effective. And one of those concept fall under the

trial and error theory. Gene Theory by Gregor Mendel,

according to Mendel, gene theory is one of the basic

principles of biology. The main concept of this theory is

that traits are passed from parents to offspring though gene

transmission. Genes are located on chromosomes and consists

of DNA. They are passed from parents to offspring through

reproduction. Cells transcribe a DNA gene into a RNA version

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of the gene, and a ribosome then translates the RNA into a

protein sequence of amino acids.

Synthesis

The above studies had cited that there are many

contributory factors why students had problems in learning

their laboratory activities in Chemistry.

In the related studies, they studied on almost the same

variables on how to effectively teach Chemistry subject for

students to learn better however, in the present study it

will assess only on the level of performance of Criminology

students of the University of Cagayan Valley on certain

laboratory activities.
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Chapter 3
METHODS AND PROCEDURE

This chapter presents and will discuss the research

design, respondents of the study, data gathering tools, data

gathering procedure and statistical tool that would be used

on the study.

Research Design

The study will make use of the descriptive-

correlational research method since it involves assessment

on the level of performance of Third Year Criminology

students of the University of Cagayan Valley in General

Chemistry as a basis for subject enhancement during the

first semester of school year 2017-2018.

Respondents of the Study

The respondents of the study will be the Third Year

Criminology students who were enrolled the subject CHM 101

(General Chemistry) during the First Semester of School Year

2017-2018.
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Table 1

Respondents of the Study

Teacher Sample
Teacher A 40
Teacher B 40
Teacher C 40
Total 120

Data Gathering Tool

The researchers will make use of a questionnaire

checklist to be patterned on the safety guidelines and

procedures set forth in Chemistry Laboratory Manual and some

of the items will be revised to suit the present study.

Section 1 contains the profile of the respondents while

Section 2 contains the assessment on the level of

performance of Third Year Criminology students in their

laboratory activities.

Data Gathering Procedure

The researchers through the guidance of their Adviser

will prepare a letter of permission addressed to President

of UCV thru Vice President for Academics to be noted by the

Academic Dean for the conduct of the study.

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The questionnaires will distribute to the respondents.

Seek the help of the present students to help facilitate the

distribution of the questionnaires.

Collect the answered instrument. Scan, sort and tally

the responses. Tabulate the data gathered with the

assistance of the adviser. Record, analyze and interpret the

data.

Statistical Tools

The data of the questionnaire checklist that deals with

the profile of the respondents will be analyzed using the

frequency and percentage distribution.

The data on the level of performance of Third Year

Criminology students in their laboratory activities will be

analyzed using the weighted mean. The weighted mean will be

computed in order to be able to evaluate the responses and

for the purpose of presentation and interpretation. Weighted

mean will be further interpreted using the modified 3-point

scale below.

Numerical Value Range Descriptive Scale

3 2.34 -3.00 Always

2 1.67 – 2.33 Sometimes
1 1.0 - 1.66 Never

Furthermore, t-Test and Pearson r will be used to test

the difference and correlate variables of the study.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

A. Books

Handbook of Research on Science Teaching and Learning: A

Project of the National Science Teachers
Association. MacMillan Library Reference USA; New York:
1994. pp. 131–176. Chapter 4.

Lawson AE. Research on the Acquisition of Science Knowledge:

Epistemological Foundations of Cognition. In: Gabel
Dorothy L., editor.

B. Unpublished Thesis

Cantos, E. (2014), “Performance of the Grade 8 Science

Students of Fe Del Mundo National High School in
Oriental Mindoro”.

Gilgit, P et.al. (2014), “Level of Performance by High School

Students in Chemistry Classroom”. Pakistan

Lacson, J and Marquez, M.(2014) “The State of Science

Teaching in the Grade School: Diagnosing Issues and
Problems”.

Magdara, J. (2015), “Chemistry Teaching in Selected Public

High Schools in Marawi City: An Assessment”

Ogundelewe, B. (2014). “Common Difficulties Encountered by

Students in Chemistry Practical Class”. Nigeria

C. Journal
Shibley IA, Jr., Milakofsky L, Bender DS, Patterson
HO. J.Chem.Educ. 2003;80:569–573.

Williams H, Turner CW, Debreuil L, Fast J, Berestiansky

J. J.Chem.Educ. 1979;56:599–600.

D. Electronic Sources

file:///C:/Users/user/Downloads/261379967-GENERAL-CHEMISTRY-

LAB-MANUAL-1-pdf.pdf