THE INFLUENCE OF LABORATORY PRACTICE ON MICROBIOLOGY EDUCATION IN UNIVERSITIES FOUND IN ANAMBRA STATE, NIGERIA

The study investigated the influence of laboratory practice on microbiology education in universities found in Anambra state, Nigeria. The simple random sampling (SRS) technique was employed during the selection of four (4) universities for the study. The design of the study was the survey descriptive design. Seven (7) research questions guided the study. The samples used for the study consist of one hundred (100) respondents. The research instrument employed was the questionnaire. The descriptive statistics (mean and bar charts) was used during the data analysis. Theresults of the study showed thatthere were laboratories in the institution;the laboratories were well equipped; there were functioning basic amenities like electricity and good water supply in the schools; students were not given access to heuristically and demonstratively use the laboratories in the schools; lecturers do not refer students to carry out laboratory practice after classroom work; the lecturers monitor their students during the laboratory practices and students performed poorly in microbiology. It was then evident that majority of the universities did not effectively employ laboratory practice during microbiology education which might have led to the poor performances of studentsas revealed by the lecturers’ log and progress report books of the students. Therefore, the need to equip and effectively utilize the laboratories for microbiology education cannot be over emphasized and efforts should be geared towards upgrading the laboratories and enlightening/enforcing both lecturers/students on the need to be employing laboratorypractice for effective teaching and learning of microbiology.