Knowledge Level of Laboratory Safety Skills Possessed by Primary Education Pre-Service Teachers in Colleges of Education in South-East Nigeria: Implications for Practical Mathematics Learning

Abstract

The study examines the knowledge level of laboratory safety skills possessed by primary education pre-service teachers in Imo State: Implications for practical mathematics learning. This study was carried out in tertiary institutions in Imo State. Based on the purpose of the study, three research questions and two hypotheses guided the study at a 0.05 level of significance. The study adopted a descriptive research design. The population of the study comprised 105 Pre-service teachers in the School of Early Childhood Care and Primary Education. A sample size of 95 Pre-service teachers was used for the study, involving 40 males and 55 females. The instrument used for data collection was a structured Questionnaire titled Knowledge Level of Laboratory Safety Skills Questionnaire (KLLSSSPT). The reliability coefficient (r) of 0.82 was obtained using the Cronbach alpha method. Data collected were analysed using mean, standard deviation for the research questions, while t-test and ANOVA were used to test the hypotheses at 0.05 level of significance. The results showed that Pre-service teachers possess a high level of knowledge of laboratory safety skills and showed no disparity in gender and NCE Programme (Regular, Evening and Sandwich) pre-service teachers' level of knowledge of laboratory safety skills. It was recommended that all those teachers and other relevant stakeholders should emphasise laboratory procedures more, to give students more opportunities to implement the knowledge of laboratory safety skills that they possess.