ASSESSMENT OF SCIENCE TEACHERS’ LEVEL OF LABORATORY SAFETY REGULATION KNOWLEDGE IN FEDERAL CAPITAL TERRITORY SENIOR SECONDARY SCHOOLS, ABUJA

OKPAJE, J. O.

Abstract

This paper assessed science teachers’ level of laboratory safety regulation knowledge in FCT senior secondary schools, Abuja. Survey research design was adopted for the study. A sample of 320 was selected from the population of 1,896 science teachers using simple random sampling technique. Three research questions and two hypotheses guided the study. A structured questionnaire made up of 15 items was used for the purpose of data collection. The questionnaire was validated by three university lecturers who are experts in Science Education and a reliability index of 0.96 was obtained using Cronbach Alpha. Findings of the study revealed that science teachers in FCT have high level of laboratory safety regulation knowledge necessary for prevention of potential accidents or hazards in the laboratory and containment of accidents that may occur in the laboratory in order to safeguard lives and equipment. It was also found that male science teachers have higher level of laboratory safety regulation knowledge than their female counterparts. Based on the findings, it was recommended among others that science teachers should have a synergy through conferences, workshops and seminars to keep abreast of their knowledge and to further improve on it.

Keywords: Assessment, laboratory, safety regulation, knowledge, Science Teachers