THE NEEDS FOR AND BARRIERS TO LABORATORY TEACHING AT THE COLLEGE OF EDUCATION, UNIVERSITY OF GARMIAN: A CASE STUDY OF BIOLOGY, CHEMISTRY AND PHYSICS DEPARTMENTS
Keywords:
obstacles and necessities, teaching, laboratory, experimental scienceAbstract
The experimental science is one of the human sciences that uses interaction and observation and to gain insight. Experimentation and laboratory activities make teaching more realistic and scientific. They activate learners' various senses, lead them towards developing skills, and practical learning. The methodology employed in the present research is applied (based on the objective), and descriptive-survey (based on the data collection). This research aims to investigate the necessity of, and obstacles to, laboratory teaching. The statistical population includes all professors and assistant-lecturers in physics, chemistry, and biology departments of teacher training faculty at Garmian University in the academic year of 2016-2017. The population consisted of 50 people. Due to limited number of population, all of the professors took part in the survey. A questionnaire was used to collect the data. Cronbach's Alpha was used to estimate the reliability of the questionnaire. The obtained α=0.74 attests the reliability and validity of the questionnaire. The results indicated that more than 80% of the lecturers deemed laboratory teaching necessary. There is an item (no. 2) on the questionnaire denoting that laboratory teaching facilitates understanding. This item got the highest score (66%). Item no. 1 also received the second highest score (64%). It states that laboratory teaching facilitates learning. The questions no. 5 and no. 6 got the lowest scores (4%). They indicate that, based on the lecturers' opinion, laboratory does not play a crucial role in growth of creativity, and learners' readiness for their future jobs. As a whole, the process of laboratory teaching requires cooperation and coordination of three group interacting together, i.e. learners, teachers, and authorities. Each group can play a destructive or constructive role in education and teaching.
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