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Rwandan secondary school students? attitudes in learning chemistry: explored with task-based instruction
By Musengimana, Jeannette
This study intended to explore the contribution of Task-Based Learning (TBL) to raising students' attitudes toward learning chemistry. The study employed a quasi-experimental research design with 369 secondary school grade-2 students in Rwanda. The study randomly assigned students to two groups of differentiated instruction. Thus, the experimental group was exposed to the TBL method, while a control group was taught the teacher-centered method. An internationally standardized Chemistry attitude questionnaire of 0.831 Cronbach alpha reliability coefficient was used before and after teaching and learning activity. The Kruskal Wallis test was computed in SPSS 23.0 to measure the effect of TBLin raising positive attitudes among students in the experimental group compared to the control group. The attitude gain was measured from pre-test to post-test in attitude variables. This study showed a statistically significant difference between the control group and the experimental group (chi 2 = 4.118, df = 1, p < .05). Furthermore, the students perceived chemistry's importance more than the other three variables (difficulty, interest, and usefulness of chemistry). Results also showed that gender affected students' perceptions of learning chemistry. Females students developed more positive attitudes than male students. However, school location statistically affecting students' attitudes towards chemistry. The study result implies that TBL method helped to increase students' attitudes toward chemistry. Recommendations were given to implement TBL methods in the chemistry classroom.
EFFECT OF TASK-BASED LEARNING ON STUDENTS' UNDERSTANDING OF CHEMICAL REACTIONS AMONG SELECTED RWANDAN LOWER SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS
By Musengimana, Jeannette
This study intended to measure the effect of Task-Based Learning (TBL) on lower secondary school students' understanding of chemical reactions. The study employed a quasi-experimental pre and post-test research design with eight intact classes of 369 students purposively selected from eight schools in two districts in Rwanda. The experimental group of four schools was exposed to the TBL method, while a control group of the other four schools was exposed to the conventional teaching method (teacher-centered). A chemistry test of a Pearson product-moment reliability coefficient of.643 was developed and used in both groups. The results of repeated-measures ANOVA revealed a significant effect of treatment on students' understanding of chemical reactions (p < .001) with a medium effect size (d = 0.357) in favor of the experimental group. Gender and school location variables were also analyzed. It was found that the interaction effect of experimental and gender was not significant (p > .05, d = 0.010). However, the effect was significant with the school location (p < .05, d = 0.026) in favor of students studying in rural schools. The results imply that TBL method improves students' understanding of chemical reactions. Recommendations were given to educational stakeholders to train teachers in this method and teachers to use it in chemistry teaching.
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