THE EFFECT OF LABORATORY WORKS IN TEACHING AND LEARNING OF PHYSICS IN ONITSHA NORTH, ANAMBRA STATE

What are the states of physics laboratories in secondary schools? Are there laboratory factors constituting constraints to effective teaching and learning of physics? Does laboratory works influence students’ physics achievements and general attitudes? To seek answers to these questions is the aim of the present research. Along the line of survey research method, structured questionnaire were administered to the teachers and students of physics in 10 secondary schools sampled from 16 Government Secondary schools in Onitsha North Local Government Area of Anambra State. The instrument used for collecting data were analyzed using a simple mean due to the conformity of the question and appropriate decision on the result based on the mean was achieved through a comparison with the theoretical cut-off mean calculated as Xc = 2.5. The result of the analysis showed inability of the students to explore diverse areas of physics as a result of insufficient supply of laboratory equipments and unsatisfactory teaching and learning due to obsolete nature of available materials. These causes lack of motivation for teaching and learning of physics. However, students with a bank of variety of practical experiences are likely to perform better in skills and confidence than those with limited experience.