ABSTRACT

Practical work is an integral part of the teaching of sciences, and yet it is often misunderstood and poorly used. The aims of practical work in sciences are to develop procedural, conceptual and affective domains. However, some teachers in Africa consider practical work to merely confirm scientific knowledge. Consequently, there is little attention paid to the teaching of practical work and its assessment. In Uganda, the secondary phase is divided into O-Level that extends over four years and A-Level that lasts two years. During these six years, practical work is conducted in Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Agriculture and Geography. How practical work is conducted and assessed has received little attention. This chapter, therefore, reports on a research study on how science practical work is conducted and assessed in Ugandan secondary schools. The results show that lessons on practical work are quite structured, with learners not having much opportunity to plan and design their own investigations. The implications of these findings for science teaching in Uganda are discussed.