A Study on Science Process Skills and Academic Achievement among IX Standard Students

Abstract

Science processes are an integral part of science teaching. Science as a discipline develops because of these procedural skills such as interpretation of data, identification of variables, formulation of hypotheses, design of experimental designs, and data analysis. The main objective of this study was to determine the extent of acquisition of science process skills. There are significant differences in dimensions of science process skills among high school students in relation to some individual variables. As a sample, 200 students of class IX of a government high school in Pudukottai were randomly selected. For data collection, a standardized instrument called Test of Science Processes was administered to the students. Semester test scores were used as the variable academic achievement. Data analysis included Mean, t-test and Karl Pearson's correlation coefficient. It shows that there are gender differences in favour of male students in science process skills and academic achievement scores. Science process skills and academic achievement were significantly and positively correlated.