Process-Based Teachers’ Refresher Courses and Students’ Acquisition of Science Process Skills in Process-Oriented Physics Lessons

Abstract

The study investigated the efficacy of process-based refresher courses on students’ acquisition of science
process skills in process-oriented physics lessons, in Abak Educational Zone of Akwa Ibom State. Four
hundred (400) SS2 students in eight (8) intact classes were randomly selected and used for the study. The
research instrument employed for the study were Refresher Course Instructional Package (RCIP) and a Test
of Science Process Skills (TOSPS). The data obtained were analyzed using t-test statistics. Results of data
analysis showed that: physics students who were taught process-oriented physics lesson in “mechanics and
properties of matters” by physics teachers who were exposed to process-based refresher course acquired
observational, manipulative, computational and communicative science process skills significantly higher
than their counterparts who received the lesson from teachers who were not so exposed; physics students
who were taught process-oriented physics lessons in “mechanics and properties of matter” by physics
teachers who were exposed to process-based refresher course, acquired the cognitive science process skills
marginally higher than their counterparts who received the lessons from teachers who were not so exposed.
It was therefore recommended that teachers at all levels of educational structure should be trained and
retrained accordingly.