Agrichemture: Remote Delivery of Interdisciplinary Practical Laboratory Course Through Urban Gardening

Date of Award

5-2022

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science in Science Education

First Advisor

Armando M. Guidote Jr., PhD

Abstract

The interruption of face-to-face instructions in academic institutions during the COVID-19 pandemic has escalated concerns about teaching and learning, particularly in the delivery of laboratory education. This study investigated the introduction of a home-based interdisciplinary practical laboratory work through urban gardening on students' General Chemistry achievement in a remote learning environment using the quasi-experimental one-group pre-test and post-test research design. Specifically, the study aims to (1) Validate the Students' Urban Gardening Perceptions and Attitudes Questionnaire (SUGPAQ), Pre-test, Post-test, and agriCHEMture Course, (2) Determine students' levels of perception and attitude towards urban gardening as the theme of at-home laboratory work using the SUGPAQ, (3) Describe students' learning experiences in agriCHEMture Course using the pre-test-post-test method and students' responses on course evaluation, and (4) Analyze the relationships of students' perception and attitude to their academic achievement by employing Pearson's Correlation and Regression analysis. Fifty-one Senior High School (SHS) General Chemistry students participated in the main study. The expert validation revealed that the SUGPAQ, Pre-test and Post-test, and agriCHEMture Course are highly acceptable research instruments with mean scores of 4.72, 4.61, 4.64, and 4.33, respectively. The internal consistency reliability showed that the SUGPAQ's perception scale (α=0.730), SUGPAQ's attitude scale (α=0.743), pre-test (α=0.704), and post-test (α=0.708) are reliable research instruments. The findings also indicated that students have positive perceptions and attitudes towards urban gardening as the theme of at-home laboratory work, with overall mean scores of 4.06 and 3.87, respectively. The Paired-Samples t- Test revealed that students' academic achievement significantly improved (p< 0.001) through the agriCHEMture Course. The overall students' course evaluation of 4.15 showed that the agriCHEMture Course is effective, appropriate, and advantageous for student learning in a remote set-up. Moreover, there are no significant relationships between students' urban gardening perceptions and attitudes and academic achievement. Overall, the study suggests that the agriCHEMture Course is a valuable instructional tool for the delivery of at-home laboratory work in a remote learning environment for SHS General Chemistry students.

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