Off-campus UNL users: To download campus access dissertations, please use the following link to log into our proxy server with your NU ID and password. When you are done browsing please remember to return to this page and log out.
Non-UNL users: Please talk to your librarian about requesting this dissertation through interlibrary loan.
An analysis of physical science safety conditions in Nebraska
Abstract
Problem. The purpose of this study was to survey physical science teachers in Nebraska about science laboratory safety conditions. This study was specifically concerned with five safety condition areas. Safety condition areas were: administration support; intervening conditions; teacher preparation; classroom instruction; and general safety and equipment conditions. Procedures. Science court litigation cases and safety dissertations, periodicals and manuals, were selected, The population included all 372 Nebraska physical science teachers. Questionnaire was developed. Pilot project established validity. Questionnaire was revised. Data collection was by mailed questionnaire. After the first mailing, a sample frame of 334 physical science teachers was established. Data analysis included descriptive, statistics, Kruskal-Wallis/ANOVA, Mann-Whitney/T-Tests, Friedman/ANOVA and Spearman/Pearson's R correlations. A 95.28 percent survey return rate was reported in tabular and narrative form. Conclusions. Principals were responsible to remove disciplinary students, schedule enrollment levels, read accident reports, support funding, provide communications, and evaluate teachers. Student injuries increased: by failure to read and comprehend labs; by 9th grade students; with chemistry experiments; with regular students; from carelessness; and from heat, and glassware conditions. General science courses, science methods courses, and inservice training did not prepare physical science teachers for lab safety. Physical science teachers posted permanent safety rules, used lab safety quizzes and contracts, taught safety before each lab and generally did not show a safety film. Physical science teachers experienced student failure to report injuries and classes too large to conduct safe labs. Physical science teachers were undecided about student injuries from special needs students, substance abuse, mathematics, unsafe textbooks, and chemical conditions. Recommendations. Science laboratory safety condition research was recommended for: science laws and court cases; secondary courses and grade configurations; categories such as special education, substance abuse, and mathematics; student injuries from reading; inservice training such as first aid; teacher preservice preparation for laboratory safety conditions; student injuries from heat, glassware, and chemical conditions; student injuries from carelessness; comparative nonparametric and parametric statistical methods; and significant differences of laboratory safety conditions between secondary school organizations, grade configurations, and enrollment patterns and years taught.
Subject Area
School administration|Curricula|Teaching|Science education|Secondary education|Teacher education
Recommended Citation
Duff, Larry Albert, "An analysis of physical science safety conditions in Nebraska" (1996). ETD collection for University of Nebraska-Lincoln. AAI9637066.
https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/dissertations/AAI9637066