EFFECTS OF ADVANCE ORGANIZER TEACHING APPROACH ON SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS ACHIEVEMENT IN CHEMISTRY IN MAARA DISTRICT, KENYA

Transcription

1 EFFECTS OF ADVANCE ORGANIZER TEACHING APPROACH ON SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS ACHIEVEMENT IN CHEMISTRY IN MAARA DISTRICT, KENYA PROFESSOR SAMUEL W. WACHANGA*; ANTONY MUGIIRA ARIMBA**; PROF. ZACHARIAH K. MBUGUA*** * DEAN FACULTY OF EDUCATION AND COMMUNITY STUDIES EGERTON UNIVERSITY, KENYA **FACULTY OF EDUCATION CHUKA UNIVERSITY, KENYA ***FACULTY OF EDUCATION KARATINA UNIVERSITY, KENYA. ABSTRACT Students achievement in Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) Chemistry examinations in Kenya is below average. This could be due to among other factors, the teaching methods used by teachers. There is need for teachers to use teaching methods that can enhance students academic achievement in Chemistry in secondary schools. This study investigated the effects of Advance Organizer Teaching Approach on students achievement in Chemistry. Quasi experimental research was employed since intact chemistry classes were involved. This was because school authorities do not allow classes to be broken and reconstituted for research purposes. Solomon s Four Non-Equivalent Control Group Design was used. The study involved secondary schools in Maara District, Kenya. The target population was 13,036 secondary school students while the accessible population was 3,540 Form Three chemistry students. Purposive sampling was used to select four district co-educational secondary schools in Maara District. The sample size involved 161 Form Three chemistry students who were in four groups E1, E2, C1 and C2. Chemistry Achievement Test (CAT) was used for data collection. The CAT was administered to groups E1 and C1 before teaching started. The experimental groups were taught using the Advance Organizer Teaching Approach (AOTA) while the control groups were taught through Regular Teaching Methods (RTM). The CAT was pilot tested to determine its reliability, while its validity was ascertained by experts from Department of Education of Chuka University College. At the end of eight weeks of teaching the CAT post-test was administered to the four groups. Statistical package for social sciences (SPSS) was used for data analysis. Descriptive statistics (mean, percentages, and standard deviation) and inferential statistics (ANOVA, ANCOVA, and t- test) were used for data analysis at α= 0.05 level. The study found out that there were significant effects of the use of advance organizers in Chemistry learning. Students who were taught using AOTA achieved better in Chemistry learning than those who were taught through RTM. The findings of this study also indicate that gender has no significant effects on CAT scores in Chemistry learning when AOTA is used. Based on this study teachers and curriculum developers should adopt and strengthen the use of advance organizers as a teaching strategy to enhance Chemistry learning by students. 24

2 KEYWORDS: Advance Organizer Teaching Approach, Chemistry Achievement Test, Regular Teaching Method, students chemistry achievement. Introduction Chemistry is the science that underpins most of the major discoveries of the 20th century and still will continue to do so in the 21 st century as emphasis moves towards the understanding of biological approaches and more eco-friendly synthetic systems such as forensic chemistry, environmental, soil and water chemistry (Webster, 2009). Chemistry courses have low rates of student success and as a result serve as a gate-way limiting access to science fields (Webster, 2009). Students learn best when they possess an integrated package of skills and beliefs that support learning. Cognitive psychologists believe that all of a person s prior knowledge is stored in the cognitive structures of the brain. Ausubel (1960) determined through extensive research that the most dependable way of facilitating retention is to introduce the appropriate subsumers and make them part of cognitive structure prior to the actual representation of the learning task. The introduced subsumers thus become advance organizers or anchoring foci for the reception of new material (Ausubel, 1960). Bransford (2004) and Anderson (2004) agree with Ausubel that advance organizers are an excellent way to activate and build schema prior to the actual learning of new material by students. Based on the initial response to the material presented in the organizer, teachers can modify their lesson plans and materials to better fit the prior knowledge of their students. In addition, they can efficiently structure their time and the critical points that need to be covered, while simplifying complicated text Bransford (2004) & Anderson, (2004). This enhances the development of higher order thinking in their students by helping them to relate concepts previously learned to the new material and enabling them to quickly organize their thoughts. Despite many researches that have been done in the efforts to improve achievement in sciences in secondary schools, performance in Chemistry continues to be poor. Kenya s Ministry of Higher Education Science and Technology (MoHEST) has made several efforts to address the causes of poor performance in chemistry. For example, the training of chemistry teachers has been enhanced so as to have trained teachers in all schools. However, the problem of poor performance in chemistry persists. Emphasis should be among others on the use of innovative teaching strategies such as the use of advance organizers. An advance organizer is a statement of inclusive concepts to introduce and sum up material that follows (Woolfolk, 2001). Ausubel (1960) defines an advance organizer as a cognitive instructional strategy used to promote the learning and retention of new information. An advance organizer is information that is presented prior to learning that can be used by the learner to organize and interpret new incoming material (Mayer, 2003). In explaining the meaningful learning, Ausubel (1960) introduced the concept of a subsumption model as a pedagogic device in which central and highly unifying ideas are stated in terms already familiar to the learner, to which the learner can relate new ideas by subsumption. A primary process in learning is subsumption in which new material is related to new and relevant ideas in the existing cognitive structures (Adebola, 2011). The organizer is introduced in advance of learning itself, and is also presented at a higher level of abstraction (Ausubel, 1960). A few have been conducted on the effects of advance organizers in learning and learners performance (Adebola, 2011). For example, Githua and Nyabwa (2007) found out that students taught using 25

3 advance organizers had significantly higher scores in mathematics achievement test than those taught in the conventional way. According to Harg and Willerman (1991) students can probably be helped by the organization and visual relationships of the advance organizer in a way that oral explanations do not offer. Wachanga and Mwangi (2004) explain that successful teaching and learning depends partly on the correct use of a teaching method whose activities target most learning senses. Chemistry is poorly performed in national examinations and in particular Maara District (KNEC; 2008; 2009). In the present study, teaching of chemistry was done through the advance organizer approach in order to find out whether students achievement would be affected positively. Purpose of the Study The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of using Advance Organizer Teaching Approach on secondary school students achievement in Chemistry in Maara District. Objectives of the Study In order to achieve the stated purpose, the following objectives were used to guide the study. i. To determine whether the achievement of students who are taught through Advance Organizer Teaching Approach (AOTA)would be different from that of those taught using the Regular Teaching Method (RTM). ii. To determine whether students achievement was affected by gender when they are taught through Advance Organizer Teaching Approach. Hypotheses The following hypotheses were tested at α=0.05 level of significance. H O 1: There is no statistically significant difference in achievement scores in Chemistry between students who are taught using AOTA and those who are taught using RTM. H O 2: There is no statistically significant difference in achievement in Chemistry between boys and girls who are taught using AOTA. Conceptual Framework In this study advance organizers were used as an intervention in the teaching of the Mole concept topic in Chemisty. The interrelated variables are shown in Figure 1. Teacher characteristics Advance Organizer Teaching Approach (AOTA) Regular Teaching Methods (RTM) Independent Variables -Gender -Experience -Training Learner characteristics -Age -Gender Students achievement in Chemistry Intervening Variables Dependent Variable 26

4 Figure 1: Interrelationships of variables in the study. The intervening variables were classroom environment, learner and teacher characteristics. To control for teacher variables, the study involved female trained teachers with at least 3 years teaching experience in Chemistry at secondary schools level. The effect of students age was controlled by involving Form Three chemistry students who are approximately the same age. Effect of students gender was incorporated in the study. Research Methodology This study involved quasi-experimental research in which the Solomon s Four Non-Equivalent Control Group Design was used. It was not possible to randomly assign students to groups as they exist in school as intact groups (Wachanga & Mwangi, 2004). The Solomon s Four Nonequivalent Control Group Design is presented in Figure 2. E1 O1 X O C1 O3 _ O E2 _ X O C2 O6 Figure 2: The Solomon s Four Non-Equivalent Control Group Design O1 and O3 were pre-tests while O2, O4, O5 and O6 were post-tests and X was the treatment where students were taught using Advance Organizer Teaching Approach in the Mole Concept topic in Chemistry. E1 was the experimental group which received pre-test, treatment and a posttest. C1 was true control group which received the pre-test followed by the control condition and the post-test. E2 was the experimental group two which received treatment followed by the posttest. C2 received the control condition followed by the post-test. C1 and C2 were taught using Regular Teaching Methods. Maturation and history effects were controlled in this design by having two groups taking a pretest and a post-test (Fraenkel &Wallen, 2000). To avoid the effects of contamination, the treatment and control groups were from different schools which were far apart. Pre-test enabled the researchers to check the entry level of the students before the experiment started. Sampling Procedure Purposive sampling was used to identify the schools with the desired characteristics from the list of schools in Maara District. The desired features of the schools that qualified for the study were: a class size of more than thirty Form Three chemistry students, female chemistry teachers, well equipped chemistry laboratory and district co-educational secondary schools. Group E1 was from Mwimbi Division while Group E2 was from Muthambi Division. The control groups were from Mwimbi Division and at an approximate distance of eight kilometers apart. These two divisions belong to Maara District. From the sampled schools, simple random sampling method was used to obtain four classes and assigning them to experimental and control groups. 27

5 Sample Size According to Mugenda and Mugenda (2003) at least 30 cases are required in each group for experimental research. In this study the number of students in the sample size was 161. The number of students in E1 were 49, C1 were 41 while in E2 and C2 were 36 and 35 respectively. The total number of students was 161. Table 1 shows the summary of the sample size indicating the number of the students in the four groups. Table 1 Summary of the Sample Size Group Number of Students Experimental one (E1) 49 Control one (C1) 41 Experimental two (E2) 36 Control two (C2) 35 Total 161 Instrumentation and Data Collection The Chemistry Achievement Test (CAT) was used to measure students achievement in the Mole Concept topic of Chemistry. This test consisted of items that were covered in Mole Concept during the eight weeks of study. The content tested involved the mole, relative atomic and molecular masses, empirical and molecular formulae, molar solutions, chemical equations, titration and molar gas volume. The test contained 10 items having a total score of 25 marks. The items tested knowledge, comprehension, application and analysis of chemical information. Two experts from Chuka University in the Department of Education and two examiners from Kenya National Examinations Council (KNEC) assisted the researchers to ascertain the validity of the test and also to review the test. Pilot testing was done in Embu East District in a co-educational district secondary school which had similar characteristics as the sampled schools. The data that were obtained from piloting assisted the researchers to determine the reliability of the test. The reliability co-efficient was calculated using the Cronbach s alpha method because the items yielded a range of scores. The test had a reliability coefficient of This value was above the threshold of 0.7. Thus the test was considered to be suitable (Fraenkel & Wallen, 2000). The test was administered at the beginning of the study as a pre-test. At the end of the eight weeks of study the items of the pre-test were reorganized to serve as the post-test. Data Analysis Descriptive statistics (mean, standard deviation, percentages) and inferential statistics (ANOVA, ANCOVA and t-test) were used for data analysis. The one-way ANOVA was used to analyze differences in the four means. It was used to establish whether there were significant differences among the mean scores of four groups. In order to take care of any initial differences among the groups, an Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA) was carried out using KCPE marks as the 28

6 covariate in all the four groups (Thorne & Giesen, 2000). Independent samples t-test was used to test if there was a statistically significant difference between two mean scores of experimental and control groups (Mutai, 2000).This is because of its superior power to detect differences between two means (Borg & Gall, 1989). The level of significance for acceptance or rejection of null hypotheses was set at α= Results and Discussion The independent samples t-test was used to analyze whether there were significant differences in the mean scores of experimental group (E1) and the control group (C1) in the CAT pre-test. Data in Table 2 shows the t-test results of the pre-test mean scores in CAT for E1 and C1. Table 2 t-test Results of the Pre-test Mean Scores on CAT Group N Mean score (%) SD df t-value p-value E C Total 79 E1 had a higher mean score (20.94%) than C1 (18.25%). However, the difference was not significant t (77) = 0.65, p>0.05. Independent samples t-test was used to analyze whether there was significant differences between the mean scores of boys and girls in CAT. Data on Table 3 shows the results in CAT based on gender. Table 3 t- Test Results of the Pre- test Mean Scores on CAT by Gender Gender N Mean Score (%) SD df t-value p- value Male Female Total 79 The results indicate that girls had higher mean scores (22.29%) as compared to boys (15.87%). However, this difference was not significant t (77) = -1.55, p>0.05. Results in Tables 2 and 3 shows that the groups were similar at the beginning of the experiment. 29

7 Effects of AOTA on students Achievement in Chemistry One way ANOVA was performed to analyze whether there was any significant difference in achievement scores of students taught using AOTA and those taught using RTM. The results of the students CAT post-test scores were as shown in Table 4. Table 4 CAT Post-test Mean Scores Obtained by Students in the Four Groups Group N Mean Score (%) SD E C E C Total The mean scores of the E1 (30.37%) and E2 (31.72%) were higher as compared with those of the C1 (21.85%) and C2 (22.74%). This shows that experimental groups achieved better than the control groups. This study found out that students taught using AOTA achieved better in CAT as compared to those students taught using RTM. This indicates that the use of advance organizers enhanced learners to learn Chemistry. The CAT mean scores for the four groups are shown in Figure 3. 30

8 Figure 3: Relationships between Post-test Mean Scores in CAT in the Four Groups Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) of the post-test mean scores in CAT are shown in Table 5 Table 5 Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) of the Post-test Mean Scores on CAT Sum of Squares df Mean Square F p-value Between Groups Within Groups Total The results in Table 5 show that the differences between the post-test scores on CAT were statistically significant F (3, 157) = 4.06, p< Least Significant Difference (LSD) Post Hoc comparisons were carried out to establish the mean scores which were statistically different. The results are shown in Table 6. Table 6 Post Hoc Comparisons of Post-test of CAT Mean Scores for the Four Groups Group Group Name Mean difference Standard error Significance Name (i) (j) (i-j) p- value E1 C * C * E C1 E * C E * E2 E C * C * C2 E * C E * * denotes that the mean differences are significant at 0.05 confidence level. The results indicate that the differences in mean scores of groups E1 and C1, groups E1 and C2, C2 and E1, C2 and E2, E2 and C1 were statistically significant at 0.05 level and therefore H 0 1 is rejected. Since the study was quasi experimental, the researchers carried out Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA) using KCPE scores as covariates. The results in Table 7 show the adjusted mean scores for ANCOVA. 31

9 Table 7 Adjusted Mean Scores of the Four Groups Group N Adjusted Mean Scores (% E C E C Total Table 8 shows the results of ANCOVA. Table 8 Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA) of the Post- test Mean Scores on CAT using KCPE marks as the Covariates Source Sum of Squares df Mean Square F sig KCPE Group Error Total Corrected Total The ANCOVA results indicate that the differences are statistically significant since p<0.05. Least Significant Difference (LSD) Post-hoc multiple comparisons were used to establish the means which were statistically different. The results are shown in Table 9. 32

10 Table 9 Post Hoc Multiple Comparisons of Post- test of CAT Mean Scores for the Four Groups Group Name Mean difference Standard error Significance (i) (j) (i-j) p- value E1 C * C * E C1 E * C E * E2 E C * C * C2 E * C E * * denotes that the mean differences are significant at 0.05 confidence level. The results indicate that the differences in mean scores of groups E1 and C1, groups E1 and C2, C2 and E1, C2 and E2, E2 and C1 were statistically significant at 0.05 levels. Therefore, H O 1 is rejected. The study showed that advance organizers are effective in enhancing students achievement in Chemistry. The findings of this study are in agreement with that of Shihusa and Keraro (2009) that the use of advance organizer teaching strategy results in higher achievement of students in Biology. Wachanga and Mwangi (2004) also found out that cooperative class experiment method facilitated chemistry learning more than RTM. Recent research by Njue (2010) found out that students who were taught using constructivist teaching strategy (CTS) achieved relatively higher scores in CAT in mole concept in Chemistry than those taught through RTM. Results of this study show that there is merit in using advance organizer approach to enhance students achievement. When students are given advance organizers prior to actual learning the learners attention is actually directed to the most important aspects of the lesson which involves what they are able to pick from the lesson in terms of the understanding of the main concepts than the mere ability to recall facts, definitions and formulae. Adebola (2011) found out that the use of advance organizers is an effective strategy for teaching and learning Mathematics at senior secondary school level. Adebola (2011) recommend that behavioral objectives and other forms of advance organizers should be used by teachers of Mathematics in instructing their students at the secondary level. Clawson and Bames (1973) attempted to determine the effects of different types of advance organizers. Their work showed that advance organizers with pictorial, graphic and manipulated materials were more effective than verbal and expository advance organizers. Studies of what constitutes an advance organizer have produced conflicting conclusions while inconsistent results have also been reported in literature on the use of advance organizers (Adebola, 2011).The findings of this study indicate that the use of AOTA enhances Chemistry 33

11 learning in the Mole Concept topic. Although teachers use advance organizers during teaching, perhaps majority of the chemistry teachers are either not familiar or aware of the use advance organizers and the role they play in Chemistry learning. Strengthening the use of advance organizers through inservice courses could help science teachers to adopt proper use of the advance organizers in teaching. Effects of AOTA on Achievement of Boys and Girls in Chemistry Independent samples t-test was used to analyze whether there was a significant difference in CAT mean scores between boys and girls who were taught using AOTA. The results are shown in Table 10. Table 10 t- Test Results of the Post- test Mean Scores on CAT by Gender Gender N Mean score (%) SD df t-value p- value Male Female Total 85 The results in Table 10 indicate that the differences in CAT mean scores between the male and female students were not statistically significant, t (83) = , p>0.05. Therefore, H 0 3 was accepted. The findings of this study indicate that gender has no significant effect on Chemistry achievement when AOTA is used. The results of this study concur with that of Njue (2010) that gender has no significant effects in chemistry achievement when students are taught using CTS in the Mole Concept topic. The present study also concurs with those of Rizwan and Muhammad (2005) findings that science achievement of female students was better than the science achievement of male students although there were no significant differences in CAT mean scores. In this study a chart in form of graphic organizer was used to provide a visual representation of facts and concepts in an organized frame. Novak (1980) asserts that creative teaching, when well done, includes the selection and use of good advance organizers. New information about a concept is filled into an existing framework of categories called schemes that contain specific information (Akinbobola, 2010). If no knowledge is available, advance organizers are used to give knowledge to the students in order for this framework to be followed and new information retained for recall and transfer. Conclusions Based on this study the following conclusions were made i. Students who are taught through AOTA achieve higher chemistry learning than those taught through RTM. ii. Gender has no effect on students achievement when they are taught through AOTA. 34

12 References Adebola, S.F. (2011). The Effects of Behavioral Objectives on Students Achievement in Senior Secondary School Mathematics Instruction when used as Advance Organizers. American Journal of Scientific and Industrial Research. Accessed on: on 6/7/2011. Akinbobola, A.O, & Afolabi. (2010). Constructivist Practices through Guided Discovery Approach: The Effects on Students Cognitive Achievement in Nigerian Senior Secondary School Physics. Eurasia Journal of Physics and Chemistry Education. 2 (1), Anderson, R. C. (2004). Role of the Readers Schema in Comprehension, Learning and Memory in R.B. Ruddel, & N. J. Unrau (Eds), Theoretical Models and Processes of Reading (5 th ed.) pp Newark, DE: International Reading Association. Ausubel, D. P. (1960). The Use of Advance Organizers in the Learning and Retention of Meaningful Verbal Material. Journal of Educational Psychology, 51, Borg, W. R, & Gall. M. D. (1989). Educational Research. An Introduction. 5 th Ed. White Plains. New York, U.S.A: Longman. Bransford, J. D. (2004). Schema Activation and Schema Acquisition. Theoretical Models and Processes of Reading (5 th Ed) Newark, DE: International Reading Association, Inc. Clawson, E. U. & Bames, B. R. (1973). The Effects of Organizers on Learning of Structured Anthropological Materials in the Elementary Grades. The Journal of Experimental Education. 42(1), Fraenkel, N., &.Wallen, E.(2000). How to Design and Evaluate Research in Education. 5 th Ed. New York, U.S.A: Mc Graw Hill. Githua, N. B. & Nyabwa A. R. (2007). Effects of Advance Organizer Strategy during Instruction on Secondary School Students Mathematics Achievement in Kenya s Nakuru District. Accessed on 04/01/ Mayer, R. (2003). Learning and Instruction. New Jersey. USA: Pearson Education, Inc 35

13 Mugenda, O., & Mugenda, A. (2003). Research Methods. Quantitative & Qualitative Approaches. Nairobi, Kenya: ACTS press. Mutai, B. K. (2000). How to Write a Quality Research Proposal. A Complete and a Simplified Recipe. 1 st Ed. My Sore, India: My Sore University Press. Njue, A. K.(2010). Effects of Constructivist Teaching Strategy on Students Achievement in Chemistry. Unpublished MEd Thesis. Chuka University College, Kenya Novak, J.D.(1980). Learning Theory Applied to the Biology Classroom. A Useful Tool for Science Education. The American Biology Teacher, 42,(5) Rizwan, A.R. &Muhammad, Z. I. (2005). Effects of Students Self concept and Gender on Academic Achievement in Science. Bulletin of Education and Research, 27(2), Shihusa, H. & Keraro, F. N. (2009). Using Advance Organizers to Enhance Students Motivation in Learning of Biology. Eurasia Journal of Mathematics, Science and Technology Education. 5(4), The Kenya National Examination (KNEC) (2008).The Kenya National Examinations Council. Nairobi: Kenya. The Kenya National Examination (KNEC) (2009). The Kenya National Examinations Council. Nairobi: Kenya. Thorne, M., & Giesen, M. (2000). Statistics for Behavioral Sciences. 3 rd Ed. London, USA: Mayfield Publishing Company. Wachanga, S.W. & Mwangi, J.G.(2004). Effects of Cooperative Class Experiment Teaching Method on Secondary School Students Chemistry Achievement in Kenyas Nakuru District. International Education Journal 5(1). Accessed on 24/4/ J.c,b net Webster, G. H. (2009). Attitude Counts. Self-Concept and Success in General Chemistry. Journal of Chemical Education. 86, 6, p Woolfolk, A. (2001). Educational Psychology. 8 th Ed. Boston, USA: Allyn and Bacon. 36