New Perspectives on Activity-Based Chemistry Learning through Meaningful Engagement: Mystical Improvement in Students’ Achievement

Abstract

The study explored the effect of activity-based chemistry instructional techniques on the achievement of eighth-graders in public schools of Nepal. It focuses on activity-based teaching of the topic filtration compared to traditionally practiced chalk and talk methods. In this study, a pre-test, post-test control group, a quasi-experimental design was used. A Chemistry Achievement Test (CAT) was applied to eighty students of four basic level community schools located in Kirtipur, Kathmandu, Nepal. Three research questions and three research hypotheses were generated and tested at 0.05 level of significance. The data collected were analyzed using mean and standard deviation while independent t- test was used to test the hypotheses. To measure the reliability coefficient of CAT, Cronbach alpha was applied which was found 0.642. Results showed that students under the experimental group facilitated by activity-based chemistry instructional techniques performed significantly better than those taught by chalk and talk methods. It also showed that activity-based chemistry learning encourages students’ independent and inquisitive learning by self-investigation and analysis of the situation. It is recommended from this study that activity-based learning is more beneficial for students’ engagement in chemistry lessons in the community schools of Nepal.