The relationship between school laboratory experiments and academic achievement of Palestinian students in introductory university science courses

Abstract

This study examined the relationship between science laboratory experiments observed in secondary school and the academic achievement of Palestinian students in university Physics, Chemistry and Biology courses. The study revealed that there is a strong relationship between the total number of secondary science laboratory experiments in secondary school and the academic achievement of Palestinian students in science theory and laboratory courses. The size of this effect ranged between 26% and 50% for the various science courses. A regression analysis was conducted to determine the factors which most likely will predict the effect of observing an additional secondary school science laboratory experiment on the academic achievement of university students in introductory laboratory and theory courses.