IMPACT OF HANDS-ON ACTIVITIES ON STUDENTS’ MOTIVATION AND ACHIEVEMENT IN SCIENCE

Abstract

We are living in the era of science and technology and it has made the world a global village. Science and technology has become a prominent indicator of economic development and prosperity. Nations of the world are striving for the excellence in this field. Pakistan is a developing country and advancement in the field of science and technology is the only way that can embark upon an era of economic development and prosperity for the country. Advancement in science and technology requires revolutionary changes and improvements in teaching learning science at all levels. One of the desired changes is the use of hands-on activities in teaching and learning science. Students’ involvement in hands-on activities exposes them to vibrant connections from abstract concepts to material examples and from scientific principles to scientific applications, which contribute a lot to students’ better comprehension of the scientific knowledge and their ability to solve problems using their scientific knowledge. It has been found that hands-on activities provide enjoyment to children and develop greater enthusiasm for science in the classroom. Keeping in view the need and importance hands-on activities in science education, the present study was undertaken. This study was designed to investigate the impact of hands-on activities on 8th grade students’ motivation toward science learning and their achievement in science. The study was conducted on 342 students of two boys’ high schools and two girls’ high schools, all schools were from public sector. The sample of the study comprised of 145 male and 197 female of grade 8, of which 169(49%) were assigned as experimental group and instructed by hands-on activities, while the 173 (51%) were assigned as control group and instructed by the viii traditional method. For the study, students’ motivation toward science learning scale (SMTSL) was used to measure students’ motivation toward science learning and science achievement test developed and validated by the researcher, was used to collect the data regarding students achievement score in science. The data were analyzed by using Independent Sample t-test through SPSS. The results indicated that there was a significant difference between the means score on students’ motivation toward science learning and students’ science achievement in favour of the experimental group. Gender wise comparison showed that male students were higher on motivation toward science learning as a result of experiencing hands-on activities but the difference was small and insignificant. Moreover, the gender wise comparison on achievement score as a result of experiencing hands-on activities showed that hands-on activities are equally beneficial for both male and female students and no difference on science achievement was found therein. The results of this study are important in the context of developing countries that have limited resources to spend on science education. The study recommends that science curriculum should be more activity based and include more hands- on activities at this level and teachers should be trained effectively so that the students’ motivational level toward science learning and their achievement in science can be enhanced.