ASSESSMENT OF THE AVAILABILITY AND ASSESSIBILTY OF LABORATORY EQUIPMENT IN BIOLOGY PRACTICAL ACTIVITIES IN COLLEGES OF EDUCATION IN OSUN STATE, NIGERIA

Abstract

The study examined the availability and accessibility of laboratory equipment in Colleges of Education in Osun State. The study adopted descriptive survey research design. The population consisted of all the biology lecturers and students in the Colleges of Education in Osun State. The study sample comprised Biology lecturers and students (NCE II) of the two public Colleges of Education selected using total enumeration technique, and two private Colleges of Education selected using simple random sampling technique. Total enumeration sampling technique was used to select 31 and 29 students from the two private Colleges of Education, while Simple random sampling technique was used to select 120 students from each of the public Colleges of Education. Three Biology lecturers were selected from each of the four selected Colleges of Education using simple random sampling technique, making a total of 12 lecturers. Biology Practical Resources Observation Checklist (BPROC) and interview were used to gather data for the study. Results revealed that the availability of laboratory equipment was high (81.3%) and accessibility was high (78.7%). Lecturers in both private and public Colleges made use of the available and accessible equipment, but standard laboratories were lacking in private Colleges