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| Study the Effect of Experiential Learning on Achievement and Interest in Science at the Upper Primary Stage | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Paper Id :
17319 Submission Date :
12/02/2023 Acceptance Date :
21/02/2023 Publication Date :
24/02/2023
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| Abstract | Experiential learning is referred to as learning through direct experience or learning by doing. It is an approach in teaching which offers the learners the opportunity to acquire skills and knowledge through first-hand experiences, reflects upon those experiences to develop new skills, new attitudes, new ways of thinking, and allows them to develop a better understanding of the concepts at hand. Experiential learning is considered to be an effective way of approaching education. Because this can influence the development of the metacognitive and implementation skills of learners, by applying knowledge to specific situations and allowing learners the opportunity to self-learn. The present study aimed to know the effect of experiential learning on achievement and interest in science at the upper primary stage the effect of experiential learning on achievement and interest in science at the upper primary stage. The data were collected from 60 (30 control group and 30 Experimental groups) students studying in standard VI English medium school Saraswati Shishu Mandir, Agra by simple random sampling technique. Achievement in Science was measured by a self-constructed achievement test and the Interest of students in science was measured by Dr. L. N. Dubey and Dr. Archna Dubey (2002). The control experimental by the traditional teaching method and the experimental group was taught by experiential learning. The obtained data were analyzed by employing t-test and the level of significance was ranging from 0.01. to 0.05. The major findings of the study confirmed that experiential learning is more effective for enhancing the Scientific achievement and Interest of students in the subject of science. The research has applications for in-service or pre-service teachers, parents, policymakers of curriculum framework and students at schools. Data were treated by Mean, SD and t-test. The findings of the study reveal that the experiential learning method plays an important role in enhancing achievement in science in comparison to traditional teaching methods. Other important findings are also discussed. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Keywords | Experiential Learning, Achievement, and Interest in Science. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Introduction |
It is a well-known thing that learning is an ongoing process. We learn as students, teachers, parents, educators, and as humans. Over the years, science education has been searching for new ways of teaching and learning to make a shift from the traditional board exams & paper processes to develop the student’s competencies, achievements and interests needed for their success. The paradigm has been changed from instruction to learning. In this regards the experiential learning approach is one of the methods that meet this criterion.
Real-world experiential learning can be truly transformative for the youth of the 21st century where children spend much of their education cooped up in small boxes called classrooms.
"Knowledge is experienced, everything else is just information".
--Albert Einstein [1]
Children must be capable of much more than just being able to count, read and write in a rapidly evolving and unpredictable modern world, powered by technology and globalization. Children need realistic learning experiences that are authentically set in real-life environments that are built to intentionally imitate how the world currently operates outside the classroom boundaries. Science focuses more on innovation; it comes as no surprise that its pedagogy is also evolving. In the present decade, there was a radical shift in the approach towards learning and teaching STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) concepts through practical, hands-on, and experiential approaches.
Experiential Learning
John Dewey [2] states that “Give the pupils something to do, not something to learn; and the doing is of such a nature as to demand thinking; learning naturally results”.
It inferences that experiential learning is referred to as learning through direct experience or learning by doing. It is an approach in teaching which offers the learners the opportunity to acquire skills and knowledge through real lives experiences, reflect upon those experiences to develop new skills, new attitudes, and new ways of thinking, and allow them to develop a better understanding of the concepts at hand. Experiential learning is an effective way of approaching education. Because this can influence the development of the metacognitive and implementation skills of learners, by applying knowledge to specific situations and providing learners the opportunity to learn their own self. It's a learning style that has been extensively researched for decades, and one that has been shown to be beneficial for students of all ages.
Experiential learning starts at a young age. According to Jean Piaget, the first stage of cognitive development is the sensorimotor stage. It lasts from birth to two years old. At this stage, even if the baby has no verbal actions, the baby begins to realize the consequences of the actions. They learn how to walk after falling repeatedly and try new things until they stand up long enough to walk through the room. Aristotle’s wisdom that “For the things we have to learn before we do them, we learn by doing them”.[3]
In teaching science, organizing experiential activity is to provide students with opportunities to observe and experiment; apply knowledge; solve theoretical and practical problems; to discover and explore science, through which they can continue to improve their skills and achievements. Via experiential learning, the aim of teaching science is to link students to realistic situations. As a result, students identify practical problems and have the decision-making skills to solve the problems.
Experiential Learning being recommended for school-level in the NEP, 2020
The decision taken by the Indian government to overhaul the entire system of education is a great step. The NEP 2020 was approved on July 29, 2020, it is set to reconfigure the 10+2 years schooling system in India with a new 5+3+3+4-year system. These phases are strictly curricular and pedagogical in nature and are intended to optimize learning.
In view of the students' developmental and learning needs, the reconfiguration of stages is more acceptable than the previous division. It is focused on the ground reality of the education scenario of the country, which places more importance on students’ creativity and innovation as well as personality development rather than requiring them to score high and memorize the content without acquiring a basic understanding of concepts. The main thrust behind all phases of this curricular and pedagogical restructuring is to step away from the conventional form of learning to 'experiential learning.
Experiential Learning in science: In teaching science, organizing experiential activity is to provide students with opportunities to observe and experiment; apply knowledge; solve theoretical and practical problems; to discover and explore science, through which they can continue to improve their skills and achievements. Via experiential learning, the aim of teaching science is to link students to realistic situations. As a result, students identify practical problems and have the decision-making skills to solve the problem. |
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| Aim of study | There are following two main objectives of the present study- 1. To study the effect of Experiential Learning on Achievement in Science of middle-stage students. 2. To study the effect of Experiential Learning on the interest in the science of middle-stage students. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Review of Literature | Emergence of the Problem Traditional learning methods in India have focused far too much on rote
learning and memorization. This method allowed students with a good memory to
potentially score more, even if the lessons or concepts were not clear to them.
On the other hand, a pattern that encourages understanding at a conceptual
level can help students build on the foundation of what they already know and
help them to create new and more meaningful connections between new and old
knowledge. By encouraging students to think critically from an early age,
experiential learning helps them to discover new connections and acquire new
problem-solving skills, rather than rely on quick-fix solutions offered by
parents and teachers. The science education system should emphasize the practical understanding
of the principles of science concerning improvement in the science achievement
and interest of the students. This should be the aim of] our school and higher
science education. According to NCF (2005), our age-old traditional teacher-dominated “read
and remember till asked” and “chalk-n-talk” practice ought to be replaced by
the pupil-centered constructivist teaching-learning process. Our science
education develops more competence but doesn’t encourage inventiveness,
creativity, and interest in our future citizens which are essential ingredients
for the growth of our nation. “The enormous potential for India to
become a leading knowledge power in the coming years can be realized only if our
younger generation has opportunities for all round good education and training,
especially in Science & Technology. Unfortunately, however, the present
state of higher education in the country is rather poor. To make it more
relevant, to the changing needs of society, and thus propel India to a position
of leading knowledge power, we need massive investments as well as well-planned
radical changes in our higher education system” Sarah Yardley and Tim Dornan
[4] found that Experiential Learning is the only solution at present that
bridges the gap between theory and practice. The study indicates the positive
impact of hand-on-activities. Joshi, Kavita. H [5] found in his study that by
adopting Kolb’s Experiential Learning Model, students will be able to learn
practical aspects. Biswal Bibhuti Narayan [6] concluded the basis of his
research study, The effects of the experiential learning model on students’
achievement in chemistry as well as their scientific process skills. Thote
Prashant and Gowri. S [7] found that outcome-based learning approach by making
handmade model of unit cell and crystal lattice in solid state Chemistry has
positive significant impact on academic achievements of learners. Villarroel, V., Benavente, M., Chuecas, M.,
& Bruna, D. [8] found that a positive perception from the students,
teachers and beneficiaries of the proposal. Likewise, the students reported the
perception of having learned more than in a subject in which this methodology
is not used. Noor, N. A. M., Ariffin, K., Darus, N. A., & Alias, A. [9],
found in their research that students who went through the experiential
learning method scored better grades, where 10% of these students obtained A
and A- grades compared to the conventional learning method. The students agreed
that the experiential activities have created an interesting learning process
and provided them a real-world experience, thus, enabled them to relate to what
they learned in class. Yangtao Kong [10], discussed in his survey on importance
of experiential learning in motivation and involvement of students. In the
above-mentioned studies, Experiential Learning is related to different
variables. The following research questions were in the mind of the researcher- 1. Whether an integrated approach
of experiential learning for teaching science will affect the science
achievement of students? 2. Whether an integrated approach
of experiential learning for teaching science will affect the interest of
students in science?
However, no researcher has focused on the relationship between Experiential
Learning and achievement in science of students. No investigation has been
carried out on the relationship between Experiential Learning and the interest
of the students. To know the answers to the above questions and achieve the aim
of the study. The researcher has decided to take this problem. |
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| Methodology | The aim of the present study was to find the “effect of experiential learning on achievement and interest of students in science at middle school”. Therefore, keeping in view the requirement of this research, the experimental method is adopted. |
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| Sampling | Design of the
Study The researcher
wanted to know the effectiveness of Statistical based Interactive Instructional
Material by comparing the pre-test and post-test scores of middle school
students. The following design was followed by the researcher to
accomplish the desired objectives of the research: Table 1: Design
of Study
Variables of
the Study 1. Independent variable:
Experiential learning 2. Dependent
Variable: Achievement and interest of students in science Population of
the Study In school
Saraswati Shishu Mandir, Agra affiliated to Central Board of Secondary
Education, during the academic year 2021the present study, population consists
of all the students studying in standard VI English medium -22. In Saraswati
Shishu Mandir, Agra there are 80 students. Hence, the population of the present
study constituted 80 standard VI students. Sample of the
study
The main
purpose of the research was to study the effect of Experiential Learning. To
find the appropriate sample for the study, and section of the school was
primarily done by the researcher by purposive method and 30-30 students were
selected for experimental and control groups by simple random sampling
technique.
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| Tools Used | Keeping in view the nature of the present problem along with the information required, the data will be collected by the following tools. 1. For measuring Achievement in Science, self-constructed pre and post Achievement test was used. 2. To measure the Interest of students Science Interest Test constructed by Dr. L. N. Dubey and Dr. Archna Dubey (2002) was used. |
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| Statistics Used in the Study | To achieve the objectives of the study, the researcher has calculated mean,
S.D., and t-test used for the analysis and interpretation of data. Analysis and interpretation of data The results arrived after analyses of raw data are present ed following
sub-headings: 1. To study the effect of Experiential Learning on Achievement in Science
of middle stage students. 2. To study the effect of Experiential Learning on the interest towards
Science of middle stage students. 1. To study the effect of Experiential Learning on Achievement in Science
of middle stage students. To measure the effect of Experiential Learning on achievement in science of
middle stage students, a self-constructed Achievement test in Science was used
to assess their Achievement before and after teaching with Experiential
Learning technique. The data gathered from the pre-test of Achievement in Science among Middle
Stage Students were represented in the form of Mean, S.D and t-test. The
following table (2) depicts the values of Mean, S.D and t-test administered
before the treatment: Table 2: Mean, S.D. and t-test of pre-test of Achievement in
Science
It is evident from the table (2) that the mean and standard deviation of
Experimental group were 10.13 and 2.76 and the mean and standard deviation of
Controlled Group were 9.10 and 3.67 respectively. The calculated t-value was
found to be 1.23 with 58 degree of freedom is lesser than the table value
(1.671) which is insignificant at 0.05 level hence there is no difference
between the control and experimental group. Table 3: Mean, S.D., and t-test of Post-test of Achievement in Science
Table (3) exhibited that the mean and standard deviation of the
Experimental group were 28.24 and 2.14 and the mean and standard deviation of
Controlled Group were 17.73 and 3.35 respectively. The calculated t-value was
found to be 2.55 with 58 degree of freedom is more than the table value (2.390)
which is significant at 0.01 level. This t-value indicates that students of
experimental group showed significant improvement in post test scores. Hence
the alternative hypothesis “There is a significant effect of Experiential
Learning on Achievement in Science of middle school students” was accepted.
Therefore, it can be concluded that Teaching with Experiential Learning was found to be
effective in increasing the Achievement in Science of the middle school Students. To study the effect of Experiential Learning on Interest towards Science of
middle stage students. To measure the effect of Experiential Learning on Interest in the science
of middle stage students, the standardized tool Science Interest Test (SIT) by
Dr. L. N. Dubey and Dr. Archna Dubey (2002) was used. The data gathered from the pre-test of the Science Interest Test (SIT)
among Middle Stage Students were represented in the form of Mean, S.D and
t-test. The following table (4) depicts the values of Mean, S.D and t-test
administered before the treatment:Table 4: Mean, S.D. and t-test of Pre-test of Science Interest Test (SIT)
The table (4) exhibited that the mean and standard deviation of
Experimental group were 22.67 and 9.13 and the mean and standard deviation of
Controlled Group were 21.7 and 10.41 respectively. The calculated t-value was
found to be 1.53 with 58 degree of freedom is less than the table value (1.671)
which is insignificant at 0.05 level. Table 5: Mean, S.D. and t-test of Post-test of Science Interest Test (SIT)
Table (5) exhibited that the mean and standard deviation of the
Experimental group were 53.96 and 7.50 and the mean and standard deviation of
Controlled Group were 40.533 and 9.88 respectively. The calculated t-value was
found 5.92 with 58 degree of freedom is more than the table value (2.390) which
is significant at 0.01 level. This t-value indicates that students of
experimental group showed significant improvement in post test scores. Hence
the alternative hypothesis “There is a significant effect of Experiential
Learning on interest towards Science of middle School students.” was accepted.
Therefore, it can be concluded that Teaching with Experiential Learning was
found to be effective in increasing the Interest towards Science of the middle
school Students. |
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| Findings | The findings of the study are systematically presented in following sections according to the aims and objectives. Important findings of study are as follows: 1. The experiential learning technique was more effective in enhancing the level of achievement scores at knowledge level. 2. On the basis of mean score of post-test of both groups, it is clearly stated that experimental group had achieved better than control group on application objectives. Hence, it is clearly stated that through experiential learning program students can apply the gained knowledge more effectively than the students of control group. 3. The t-value between post-test of the controlled and Experimental group was found significant at 0.05 level. This finding suggests that there exists a significant difference between the means of post-test of the controlled group and post- test score of Experimental groups, indicating that there was an improvement in the Achievement in science by teaching through Experiential Learning. Based on mean score of post test of both groups, it is clearly stated that experimental group had achieved better than control group on application objectives. Hence, it is clearly stated that through experiential learning program students can apply the acquired knowledge more effectively than the students of control group. 4. It is found that there exists a significant difference between the means of post-test of the controlled group and post-test score of Experimental groups, indicating that there was an improvement in the interest towards science by teaching through Experiential Learning. Thus, teaching with Experiential Learning improved the Interest in science of Middle school students. The findings of the present study were supported by Shivani and Rekha Rani [11], shows significant increase in scientific attitude of secondary school students. Similar results were shown by other researchers Cheriyan, Arrepattamanni, Kaur and Joseph [12,13,14] found that learning Mathematics and science is effective through experiential learning method. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Conclusion | The findings revealed that teaching science through experiential learning program resulted in positive and statistically significant change in science achievement. The results have clearly stated that through experiential learning, the quality of science education can be improved. It was found that various experiential learning methods helped students in attaining better score in science than the conventional method. The result is in congruence with the results of various studies showing that experiential learning activities help in improving the students’ academic achievement. Based on findings of the study following conclusions are drawn: Experiential learning is designed to engage students' knowledge and skills. Playing an active role in the learning process can lead to students experiencing greater gratification in learning. Experiential learning is one of the best ways to teach creative problem-solving. With real-world content, children learn that there are multiple solutions to challenges, and they are encouraged to seek their unique solutions to hands-on tasks. According to the mean scores of the self-constructed Achievement test (post-test) of both groups (Controlled and Experimental), it is clearly stated that the experimental group had achieved better than the control group. Hence, through an experiential learning program students are able to apply the achieved knowledge more effectively than the students of the control group. According to the mean scores of the Science Interest test (post-test) of both groups (Controlled and Experimental), it is clearly stated that the experimental group had achieved better than the control group. Hence, experiential learning program builds interest in students towards science. Experiential Learning has excellent achievement scores compared with those taught with the traditional method. It was also noted in the study that there is a significant effect of Experiential Learning on the achievement and interest of middle school Students. Significance of the study: The present study will provide guidance to the learning community like teachers, administrators, and curriculum framers to adopt such strategies which will provide greater experiences to learners. Teachers may take a decision about their pedagogical practices to teach science. It is clear from the results of this study that experiential learning plays a vital role in creating interest in students toward science and fostering their performance. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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