An Assessment of the Level of Acquisition of Selected Basic Science Process Skills Among Senior Secondary School Biology Students in Delta Central Senatorial District

The study assessed the level of acquisition of selected basic science process skills among senior secondaryschool Biology students in Delta Central Senatorial District. It was guided by three research questions andhypotheses and employed a descriptive survey design. The population comprised 26,571 SS II Biology studentsin 190 public senior secondary schools, while the sample included 720 students selected through a multistagesampling technique. The research instrument, Science Process Skills Knowledge Test in Biology (SPSKTC), waspre-tested on 20 SS II students from two schools in Delta South Senatorial District, yielding a reliabilitycoefficient of 0.79 using Kuder-Richardson formula 21. Data collection was conducted over five weeks withassistance from Biology teachers, and questionnaires were retrieved immediately after completion. Data wereanalyzed in line with the research questions using mean scores, while hypotheses were tested at the 0.05significance level using t-test statistics. The findings revealed that: (i) students demonstrated a high level ofacquisition of observation skill, with male students performing significantly better than females; (ii) studentsexhibited a high level of acquisition of classifying skill, again with males outperforming females; and (iii)measuring skill was also acquired at a high level, with males showing higher performance than females. Basedon these findings, it was recommended that Biology teachers design and implement practical lessons thatactively engage both male and female students. Strategies such as group activities, rotations in handlinglaboratory apparatus, and structured participation plans can ensure equal opportunities for all students todevelop observation, classifying, and measuring skills.