Effectiveness of Experiential Activity in Science Process Skills of Grade Six Pupils

CONTENTS

Chapter 1 PROBLEM AND ITS BACKGROUND
Introduction
Statement of the Problem
Statement of the Null Hypothesis
Conceptual Framework
Significance of the Study
Scope and Delimitation
Definition of Terms.

Chapter 2 Review Related Literature and Studies
Elementary Education
Critical Thinking
Constructivism
Experiential Learning
Hands-on Teaching
Science Process Skills
Inquiry Approach
Science Learning
Related Studies
Synthesis

Chapter 3 METHODOLOGY
Research Design
Research Environment
Subjects of the Study
Research Instruments
Data Gathering Procedure
Data Analyses

Chapter 4 PRESENTATION, ANALYSIS, AND INTERPRETATION OF DATA

Chapter 5 SUMMARY, CONCLUSIONS, AND RECOMMENDATIONS
Summary of Findings
Conclusions
Recommendations

References

Appendix A PROCESS SKILLS TEST IN SCIENCE 6 (Pretest)

Appendix B PROCESS SKILLS TEST IN SCIENCE 6 (Post Test)

Appendix C (Curriculum Guide)

Appendix D (Curriculum Vitae)

Appendix E (Documentations)

Chapter 1 PROBLEM AND ITS BACKGROUND

Introduction

Learning is a requirement to attain better understanding of things around us. Learning is gained in knowledge, mastery through experience or study or comprehension (Olson & Hergenhahn, 2009). After learning, learners are capable of doing something which they could not do before learning took place (Olson, 2007). Dewey (1938) stated that acquisition of information involves ‘learning to think'. He said that he process of information is more than performing a task or activity. Learning and grasping of information is not an easy task. One way to achieve skills is that the persons must engage in science.

This is the reason what science teaching and science education research is for - to enhance student’s learning (Thomas, 1999). According to Christensen (1995), learning science can cultivate the abilities of learners to become scientifically learned individuals. Anderson (1987) said that activities or any kind of exercises are basic and integrated process skills that are fundamental components and key dimension of scientific literacy. (Colvill & Pattie, 2002)

According to Gallagher (2000) there are primary objectives that must be considered in attaining such proficiency. These are: Science must be given for all, teaching for higher thinking, and science process or science practice application.

Knowing and applying science concepts include science skills (Sungur, 2000). Thus, individuals must have or possess these skills that will also be enhanced as they move forward in their learning. In addition, the K to 12 Curriculum is focused on the learner’s attainment of the current century abilities. One of these is critical problem solving skills which incorporate scientific thinking.

Scientific process skills consist of skills that every pupil could apply and use in his/her everyday life. Thus, these skills have a great impact on one’s personality, his/ her social life, and other aspects of life of a person. These skills can be acquired by students through science education with proper training exercise.

Under the theory of practice, also known as constructivism, in experiential approach, learning is achieved well when students make their own action of reaching a conclusion and discoveries. Students learn by doing; therefore, actively engaging and exposing learners in experience-based learning is one important key to the construction of new meaning (Gibbs, 1988; Merriam, Caffarella, & Baumgartner, 2007).

In the Philippines subjects like science is one of the shortcomings of pupils. The National Achievement Tests confirm this together with Mathematics. So far, Science is the most difficult field of study in fundamental instruction in the Philippines. According to DepEd, data showed that the average NAT score of public elementary school students for SY 2011 to 2012 was significantly lower than 66.79% than the previous four years.

The average NAT scores of public elementary students were 66.79% in SY 2011-2012, 68.15% in SY 2010-2011, 68.01% in SY 2009-2010, 65.55% in SY 2008-2009, and 64.81% in SY 2007-2008

According to Ordinario (2013) the reason for this low performance in science of the young Filipino pupils include the lack and low esteem for a scientific culture reflected in the deficiencies regarding the school curriculum, the insufficient teaching learning process, the lack of instructional materials and the lack of teachers’ readiness. For example, the shortage of worthy and engaging textbooks and the unavailability of science paraphernalia have slowed down the conduct of scientific research and experiential activities among Filipino pupils. One of the main reasons about the unsatisfactory achievement of pupils is our congested curriculum.

With all the background given, this research aimed to study the effect of utilization of experiential activities as the teaching approach on the science process skills of the students.

Statement of the Problem

This study is designed to determine the effectiveness of experiential activities in improving students’ science process skills. It specifically aimed to answer the following questions:

1. What is the achieved level of science process skills of the Grade 6 pupils of science section before and after the use of experiential activities?
2. Is there a significant difference in the pupil’s science process skills before and after doing the experiential activities?

Statement of the Null Hypothesis

1. There is no significant difference in the pupil’s science process skills before and after doing the experiential activities.

Conceptual Framework

Abbildung in dieser Leseprobe nicht enthalten
Figure 1.1 Conceptual Framework

This study aimed to determine the level of science process skills of Grade 6 pupils through experiential activity. Science process skills must be developed among the pupils because they will help them determine facts and truths around them. It will be their asset as they grow and develop especially in high school and college life. One way to improve their thinking skills is to teach the learners using experiential approach. Experiential approach is the selected method in conducting this study because experiential learning approach involves the learners to do something; it enhances and develops one’s skills and knowledge. Moreover, experiential learning permits the learners to explore, analyze, and ready to comprehend things that surround him. As Lewis and Williams (1994) stated “expose the children with lots of activities, in this way they will learn: in short “learning by doing”. It is also connected to the idea of constructivism where pupils acquire information best. “Learners are given the rights and benefits to think, to reflect, and to associate with ideas, objects, and many more”. (Brooks & Brooks, 1993).

Constructivist teaching fosters critical thinking and creates active and motivated learners. Moreover, Kuslan and Stone stated that “Inquiry approach can also allow the learners to search for truth, and seek information.” So, the researchers will now adopt these theories and concepts in determining the science process skills of the pupils by using experiential learning approach.

The output of the study will be the proper usage of instructional materials and experiential activities in teaching the learners to enhance their basic science process skills.

Significance of the Study

This study is significant to the following:

Educational Institutions. The results of this study may be used and applied in the further development of their curriculum.

Science Teacher. This study may give support in developing the techniques, practice, and strategies involved in the teaching-learning process.

Students. The results of this study can be a basis in the improvement of their thinking skills.

Student Teachers. The outcomes of this study may guide them on how they impart information among their current pupils and their future students.

Future Researchers. This study can aid as a source for future researches in further analysis and in-depth studies evolving on basic science process skills, motivation, and science learning.

Scope and Delimitation

This action research focused on the effectiveness of experiential activities in science process of the pupils.These skills include observing, comparing, classifying, measuring, predicting and inferring. This was conducted at Solano South Elementary School, Solano, Nueva Vizcaya on February 13 - 23, 2017 The subjects consisted of a total of 43 pupils from the science section in Grade 6 taking Science subject.

Definition of Terms.

The following terms were used in this study and are operationally and conceptually defined.

Constructivism refers to a method of creating meaning; it is how individual makes sense of their experience. It is a teaching method that allows the learners to do something and at the same time to construct new meaning. (Merriam, Caffarella, & Baumgartner, 2007)

Effectiveness refers to the expected result of a given activity to meet a specific goal (Shymansky,1989). In this study, it refers to the result of the experiential approach in teaching in terms of the science process skills of the learners.

Experiential Approach is a method in teaching where knowledge or learning is developed, enhanced or improved through active exposure to hands-on activities by the students rather than learning through books, lectures and other traditional approaches.

Learning refers to the improvement of general academic skills and the mastery of scientific skills (Gagne, 1967). In this study, it refers to the difference in the pretest and posttest scores in science process skills that the pupils obtained.

Science Process Skill is the building block of critical thinking and inquiry in science which includes observing, classifying, inferring, predicting, communicating, and measuring. These skills can be obtained by learners through science instruction activities (Harlen, 1999; Huppert, Lomask & Lazarorcitz, 2002). In this study, this is measured by the score obtained by the student’s score in the researcher-made science process skills test.

Student-Centered refers to a wide variety of educational programs, learning involvements, instructional methods, and academic-support tactics that are intended to address the diverse learning needs, comforts, aims, or cultural backgrounds of students.

Traditional Approach refers to an approach in teaching where there are less student activities and more on the teacher’s lecture and demonstration.

Chapter 2
Review Related Literature and Studies

This chapter presents a review of related literature and studies that provided direction to the present study.

Elementary Education

The elementary level is necessary. On the principle that “learners should be properly equipped with the proper knowledge and skills, the country should have a good not just good but better program in the formal education (elementary level) which is the foundation of learning”. (Visitacion, 1998)

Once this is achieved, a movement toward the desired ends will be very smooth and easy. Hence, the core of the curriculum focuses on the 5R’s (reading, writing, arithmetic, rational thinking, and right conduct). This mass and universal education is expected to make the Filipino productive, self-reliant, versatile, civic minded, physically fit, and well- rounded.

The new educational system in the Philippines with the K-12 curriculum further explained the objectives of elementary education. It aims to develop the spiritual, moral, and physical capabilities of the child, provide him with experience in the democratic way of life, and inculcate ideas and attitudes necessary for an enlightened, patriotic, upright and useful citizenship.

The elementary school curriculum stresses science as a process whereby the child learns to understand his environment and develop scientific skills through personal experiences with materials and phenomena in his environment that can increase one’s cognition. There are approaches that provide rich opportunities for the child to learn by himself. These approaches are based on constructivism, experiential learning, inquiry approach hands on learning and other.

Critical Thinking

Many elementary pupils do not have enough thinking skills. They comprehend, analyze, and understand in a very shallow manner. It seems they are just like a leech that only sucks for information coming from the teacher. They just decide without thinking the consequences they made. They need to develop their way of thinking so that their understanding about things will be enhanced, widened, and strengthened. Once the pupils are able to develop, they will be able to understand, comprehend, and analyze things better.

Critical thinking is one of the vital things to be considered in the educational system among learners. (Gelder, 2003) Critical thinking can be described or explained in different ways. Dewey (1993), the father of critical thinking, states that “critical thinking is reflective thinking and recommends that it must be one of the targets of education”. This definition of Dewey is also seen in the works of Robert H. Ennis (1987) where critical thinking is defined as “sensible reflective thinking that is focused on deciding what to believe or do”. Deciding what to trust is a matter of determining what the facts or truths are, figuring and assuming out what the world is like. It makes a person think in a wider range. “Seeing both sides of an issue, being open to new evidence that disconfirms your ideas, reasoning dispassionately, demanding that claims be backed by evidence, deducing and inferring conclusions from available facts solving problems, and so forth” (Willlingham, 2007).

Brookfield (1987) further explained that educational systems should make any effort to awaken, prompt, cherish and encourage the progression of thinking critically and reflectively”(p.11) In similar manner, Meyers (1986) argued that educators can cultivate one’s thinking through the different activities, task they assign , and response they provide. Specialist of higher education contend that critical thinking is a standard of intellectual excellence required for full and constructive participation in academic, individual and social lives of students. (Scriven & Paul, 2004).

Gilster (1997) defines critical thinking skill as important or essential in our daily life since it allows us to think innovatively fresh, make judgments that can guide the improvement of opinions, and taking actions. In the context of Facione (1998), a critical thinker has six center thinking abilities and has seven affective natures towards critical thinking. These are explanation, analysis, evaluation, inference, interpretation, and self-control.

This idea is also presented in the field of education, under the theory of Benjamin Blooms which is the Bloom’s Taxonomy. Thinking is hierarchical, with “comprehension” at the lower level and “evaluation at the highest level. The three highest levels (analysis, synthesis, and evaluation) are often said to represent critical thinking. (Kennedy et al., 1991)

In recent times Paul (1998) viewed critical thinking as “the capability to internalized conclusion in the form of information and observation”.

Constructivism

The current well- known word in educational system is constructivism. It is applied in philosophy, sociology, anthropology, psychology and other educational fields. So what does constructivism really mean? It refers to the idea that individuals build or construct knowledge for themselves.

Constructivism is a principle on how people can acquire information best. This means “Learners are given the rights and benefit to think, to ask inquiry, to reflect, and to associate with ideas, objects, and many more.” (Brooks & Brooks, 1993). Young minds create their own particular understanding and knowledge with respect to their experiences and reflections (Rule & Lassila, 2005).

Individuals are acknowledged to build up their own specific implications and understandings, and this process is acknowledged to incorporate exchange between existing learning and beliefs and new information and encountered experiences. (Richardson 1997, 2003; Schunk, 2004)

This perspective of significance –making through already constructed learning implies that:

- Learners are intellectually generative individuals (with the capacity to pose questions, solve problems and construct theories and knowledge) rather than empty vessels waiting to be filled. Pupils are not empty vessels that we can pore with our knowledge, Knowledge is placed inside the sole that they themselves have made actively (Bhogayata C., 2003).
- Instruction should be based primarily on developing learners thinking.
- The locus of intellectual authority resides in neither the teacher nor the resources, but in the discourse facilitated by both teachers and learners (Maclellan and Soden 2004)

The meaning of constructivism varies in different individuals. Constructivism can be understood as a theory of learning through dealing with phenomenon, as they develop shared-meaning of a phenomenon via interactions within a social context (i.e. culture). Constructivism refers to the process by which human beings actively make sense out of the world around them. (Wiske, 1998)

Every teacher often says that teaching is not an easy or difficult tasks. In the field of teaching, teachers act as a facilitator who guides his/her learners so that they can generate and construct their own knowledge. Under constructivism the learners are the makers and builders of knowledge; they also construct knowledge through an active mental process. Teachers who are constructivist make their learners learning more meaningful and effective because it includes collaborative learning, hands on experiences, acquiring different approaches, makes them develop their own learning patterns and the like. Goals of constructivism is to improve students reasoning strategies, to become ready in formulating their own questions, it allows varied version of interpretation and expressions of taking information.

Constructivists teaching foster critical thinking and create active and motivated learners. Zemelman, Daniels and Hayde (1993) tell us that learning in all subject areas involves inventing and constructing new ideas.

Jonassen (1991) made a design to improve learning in the classroom. These are:

1. Cater two-fold representations of reality (Concrete Experience);
2. Concentrate on learning development, not reproduction;
3. Present valid tasks (contextualizing rather than abstracting instruction);
4. Give real-world learning fields, as opposed to pre-planned teaching sequences;
5. Foster reflective exercise;
6. Empower context-and content dependent learning development;and
7. Support community oriented development of information through social transaction. (Collaborative Learning)

Experiential Learning

Direct involvement with the materials is the finest method when it comes to developing understanding. (Blosser, 1990) Experiential learning refers to the method of learning which directly involves the learner, by actively encouraging them to do something in order to learn about it. In short, it is 'learning by doing'. Lewis and Williams (1994)

“In Addition, it is an idea and methodology in which teachers firmly engage with learners in real-world experience and allow reflection to enhance, develop ones knowledge and skills and to clear up values” (Association for Experiential Education, para. 2). Lewis and Williams (1996) point out that during the 1980 and 1990’s ,this method of learning became the focus and the core of education. Moreover, experiential learning permits learners to explore, watch straightforwardly and ready to comprehend what is going on. This is a fruitful approach to instruct kinesthetic learners who learn best by example. Sometimes it is difficult to comprehend something you have never seen or experienced. It also motivates learner to do things for themselves, which will support them with learning independently later on in life. By experiential instruction, students’ experiences are the ways to gain their learning or lesson. They begin to form their decisions on their own and make it necessary for less teacher support. A school child brings his own understanding on concepts through applying, rather than feeding them what to do and when to do things. To simplify “No direct transfer of knowledge from the instructor to the learners happens” -(Spencer) In laboratory activities, students are involved in the construction of their knowledge that’s why it is well-thought-out to be the groundwork of most science programs (Herrington & Nahkleh, 2003). It is where learners communicate, measure, compare and contrast, classify, and control variables for their understanding (Dominguez, 2005).

Hands-on Teaching

Hands-on teaching has an extended and fruitful legacy in sciences and math (Basista and Matthews; Bredderman et al.), and shows a big role in teaching social studies, history, English and other subjects. By using hands-on training, teachers are nurturing the 21st century skills that learners need to be effective: creativity, critical thinking, communication, collaboration.

“Hands-on activities ensure a lasting love of learning and encourage students to discover and explore new things” (Bass et al.). As expressed in the article by Copperstein and Kocevar-Wiedinger (2004), the benefits of hands-on activities "abstract concepts become meaningful” “transferable” and “retained” since they are attached to performance an activity". In a simple way, learners become proud and are encouraged to continue to develop and learn when they have the good opportunity to do the activity with their own hands.

Science Process Skills

Science process happens naturally, in human minds. We are not aware that we use science process to discover answers in our daily queries about how things work. But it really happens. Science process is beneficial; in any circumstances that necessitates critical thinking. SPS consist of measuring amounts, sorting or classifying, concluding, guessing/predicting, experimenting, and observing qualities (Torres, 2007). Science Process Skills are the building-blocks of critical thinking and inquiry in science (Ostlund,1992). The purpose behind science education is to empower people to utilize exploratory procedure skills; in other words, to have the capacity to characterize the issues around them, to observe, to interpret and analyze, to conclude, to sum up things, and to apply the data they have collected or gathered with the necessary abilities. Hence, these skills have a great impact on personal, social, and other aspects of individuals’ life. Science process skills incorporate abilities that each individual could use in every progression of his/her day- by- day life by being scientifically proficient and expanding the quality and standard of life by understanding the nature of science.

SPS is an essential asset to bring out and use scientific evidence, to carry out scientific exploration, and to unravel problems. These skills can be obtained by learners through science instruction activities (Harlen, 1999; Huppert, Lomask & Lazarorcitz, 2002)

Inquiry Approach

Inquiry is an “act or an instance of searching for truth, information, or knowledge, investigation, research, or a question or query” (p. 1167). The word , means “to ask for information” to make an investigation or search, to seek information or questioning” (p. 1167).

An approach that is sometimes interchangeable to “discovery,” “scientific thinking,” “heuristic,” “problem-solving” by various experts, is well-defined by Kuslan and Stone, as simply a teaching technique which is “exhibited after the investigative process of researcher.” Inquiry is unplanned and self-directed exploration. Young learner should not be hampered by traditional way of teaching, textbook-dictated ways in confirming or discovering fresh information. Using this approach, the teacher and his pupils should experience success and frustrations together, as the experts in their persistent probe of unknown.

We cannot help a learner to think and to learn if we consider them a sponge that only absorbs information, if we tell every information they need to know, rather we must allow them and give them the freedom and opportunities to explore things that surround them, help and make them motivated to inquire actively and learn to discover new leanings rather than relying on a word passively.

Science Learning

Science learning is prevalent in all schools. It is significant in all academic institutions in the learning experience. In learning science, it is not about the memorization of facts and contents from the science book ; it is the skills to be improved and developed in students and also the skills and abilities in order for them to become scientifically learned individuals (Cristensen, 1995).

Learning is enriched through communicating, interacting, and conversing with other learners. It is where building of knowledge and additional understanding take place (Murphy, 1997).

Related Studies

Research shows that experiential activities increase student performance and motivation. There is a study about the effectiveness of experiential activities in learning science among 4th grade students which employed mixed methods, encompassing a quantitative and qualitative research methods to observe the efficiency of hands-on or experiential experiments in learning science in an international school among twenty two 4th year learners. Their study is focused on the evaluation of the students’ academic progress and they also focused on the learner’s intrinsic motivation using hands on experiments in learning science. The findings of their research indicated that through hands on experiments, a number of learners gained better outcomes. It was also mentioned that there was a high level of intrinsic motivation and participation among the learners through hands on experiments. The researchers found that the experiential theory of Kolb’s is very effective in hands on experiments and through this theory it ensures that the learners will able to grasp better learning. Bruner’s theory of instruction should be included because it also further enhances the learner’s effectiveness of learning science.

Recently, educational researchers have been demonstrating the variables influencing pupils accomplishment and attitudes toward science and they have been conducting numerous studies to enhance students science accomplishment (Randler and Hulde, 2007; Taraban, Box, Myers, Pollard and Bowen, 2007; McCarthy, 2005; Hofstein and Lunetta, 2004; Bristow, 2000; Salend, 1998) furthermore attitudes (Ornstein, 2006; Osborne, 2003; Hofstein, Mooz and Rishpon, 1990) by utilizing experiential and inquiry based projects. For instance, the research study of Randler and Hulde (2007) was connected with the impact of hands-on project on student’s accomplishment about soil biology. A sum of 123 fifth and 6th grade learners contributed in the study. Result showed that students in the hands-on group exhibited higher accomplishment than understudy in conventional course reading- based projects. Also, Taraban et al.,(2007) studied 408 students from six secondary schools to examine and investigate the impact of a hands-on inquiry research program on student’s accomplishment. The results showed that the use of hands-on inquiry laboratory gave benefit to students to become more active pupils, to improve knowledge, and to enhance science process skills. University of the Punjab, Lahore, Pakistan studied about the Impact of Experiential Activities on Students’ Achievement in Science. Its main objective is to investigate the effectivity of hands-on activities among grade 8 learners and how they performed well in science. The study was conducted among 342 students consisting 145 male, 197 female; 169 of them were assigned as experimental group and instructed by hands-on activities, while the 173 were assigned as control group and instructed by the traditional method. In the data that were analyzed, it was found that experimental group excel better. Data were exposed to an independent samples t-test which revealed that there was a significant mean difference between the experimental and control groups, with effect size (0.90), indicating that the learners who were taught science using simulation activities achieved better on science achievement test than those who were exposed and taught without inclusion of hands-on-activities.

A study made by Kasinath (2000) on the usefulness of inquiry method in cultivating science process skills, ingenuity, and curiosity produced outcomes which became a proof that ITM or Inquiry Training Method is a better approach than conventional method.

In the study of Lee and Lee (2002) creative thinking skills of students will increase if they are trained in science process skill with a simple creative activities.In the study done by Lin et al., (2003) and similarly by Chiang and Tang (1999) found the same end result when they used the V-map strategy to increase the scientific creativity of the learners in their studies. A physics teacher in a public secondary school in Ankara, Turkey volunteered to make use of hands-on or experiential activities in her classes. She involved 130 9th grade students in her study in her two classes composed of 70 learners were assigned as experimental group and she used the experiential approach/method. In her other classes, she made use of 60 students as a control group and instructed them using conventional/traditional method. It was found that experiential activities were very effective method in enhancing and increasing physics lessons.

Another study made by Stohr-Hunt (1996) is also a good means in proving that experiential learning is a better approach than traditional method. In his study he investigated the frequency of using hands on activities (everyday, after a week, once a month, or never) on 8th grade learners’ science achievement. He found that when a student exposed to an experiential activity every day or once a week, the student had a better scores in science achievement than those students who have not experienced hands-on science. The results of this study were also in agreement with Freedman (1997) and Turpin’s (2000) works in terms of the effects of experiential instruction on science attainment and attitude towards science.

A development project to prepare 43 high school students from the inner city for engineering led Mckinnon to propose and teach a 2- hour per day lab experience in the logic of science. The students also underwent remedial reading, English and Mathematics. All of the subjects were well- motivated in the direction of an engineering career, 28 of the 43 students reasoned with concrete operational moved into higher levels of thought. The logic –of – science lab was indeed successful in promoting formal reasoning among sample of inner city students

Roberts (2003) conducted a study in Science to determine the changes in critical thinking of two groups of grade 6 pupils under these patterns of instructions: teacher- centered pattern and discovery – centered pattern. The study revealed significant changes in critical thinking skills of the pupils taught in the discovery- centered pattern of instruction. It is also found the component skill of Inference is the most improved critical thinking skill and the component skill of Evaluation of Argument is the least affected critical thinking skill in the discovery – centered group.

The same outcomes were found in Bristow (2000). He used as a subject the grade 6 children in learning science concepts. From the results, he found out that learners have more positive attitude towards science instruction when they are taught using experiential method. He concluded that learner will definitely get better scores when exposed to this than those pupils receiving an old-style textbook instruction. The treatment lasted for 12 weeks.

In a study conducted by Bredderman to 58 graders in teaching geodesic domes, it was found that there existed a significant difference between knowledge with and without hands-on activities. They concluded that experiential activities have a great impact. Young and Lee (2005) made a study on 399 fifth graders. The study provided evidence that the students who were taught through science kits outperformed as compared to the students taught science without using science kits. In a study conducted by Prieto (2000) on 123 fifth and sixth graders from a middle school, it was found that the students involved in hands-on activities scored significantly better than those one way traffic teacher centered experiments. Similar results were found in the study conducted by Carreon (2003) on a sample of 611 seventh and eighth grade students enrolled in middle school science, it was concluded that near daily implementation of hands-on activities yield the greatest positive impact on students’ achievement.

Research by Tuan and Chin showed that pupils responded confidently when they joined in a group discussions and lab activities (Tuan et al., 2003).

In the Philippines, a research made by Rabacal (2016) which is descriptive study determined the academic achievement on science process skills of the BS biology students of Northern Negros State College. The findings about their research showed that students have an average achievement on basic and integrated science process skills. Their findings also revealed that there are no significant differences on the academic performance of the BS Biology students when grouped according to year level and gender. Findings also revealed that there is a significant difference on the academic achievement between basic and integrated science process skills of the BS Biology students. Findings revealed that there is a significant relationship between academic achievement on the basic and integrated science process skills of the BS Biology students. Findings of this study affirm the result of the study conducted by Chaguna and Yango, (2008). In their study, science process skills of the pupils should have improved their skills more. They also found that pupils excel better in measuring, classifying, and inferring compared to experimenting, observing and communicating. In addition age and gender do not affect the science process skills proficiency level of the pupils.

Taboy (2008) conducted a study about experiential activities and found that the Grade 3 pupils had mastery on basic science process skills like observing, predicting, and inferring but low mastery on comparing, classifying, and measuring. It was revealed that pupils’ science process skills varied with individual and group activities.

Synthesis

In the educational system there is “no better method in teaching”, there is no single method that is “the best” for teaching all concepts in science. Hence, it can be concluded that experiential activities is one way to cater, support, improve, enhance their skills and further develop learners’ way of thinking. The quoted literature above helped the researcher in making the present study because it helped the researcher to appreciate learning in science better through hands on experiments. It gave them knowledge on the factors that contribute to the success of the learners.

The studies are similar with the present study because they studied science process skills; however, the present study is different because this study used and focused on experiential activity.

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