Student Teachers' Perceptions of Computerized Laboratory Practice For Science Teaching: A Comparative Analysis

Abstract

Many courses have been proposed in an effort to train future science teachers to be pedagogic practitioners in integrating ICT into their laboratory teaching. In recent years, there has been increasing interest, both in the potential of ICT as teaching tool and in research into their use. This current research involves student teachers into practicum of microcomputer-based laboratory in physical science for lower secondary school level. The student teachers classified with attitudes towards computer technology and science laboratory into three different groups of attitude level were compared their perceptions at the end of the school science laboratory. Data from student responses to a Likert-scale perception questionnaire were collected and analyzed, providing insight into students' perceptions of their computerized laboratory experience. Results indicate that all the groups perceived indifferently the goal and the support of computerized science laboratory. The high attitude group perceived the ease of use, self-learning, and value greater than the medium and the low attitude groups, but the medium attitude group had the most satisfaction with the laboratory. These outcomes provide greater insight into which factors should be promote specifically in teaching different attitude levels of student teachers for reaching their success