Effect of hands-on science activities on Ghanaian student learning, attitudes, and career interest: A preliminary control study

dc.contributor.authorBeem, Heather
dc.date.accessioned2021-01-06T10:18:17Z
dc.date.available2021-01-06T10:18:17Z
dc.date.issued2020-12
dc.description"The Global Journal of Transformative Education also operates under the Creative Commons License CC-BY-NC-ND. This allows for the reproduction of articles, free of charge, for non-commercial use only and with the appropriate citation information. All authors publishing with the GJTE accept these as the terms of publication."en_US
dc.description.abstractA quasi-experimental study was carried out with 309 Form 3 students across 9 public Junior High Schools in the Greater Accra Region of Ghana. The effect of Practical Education Network (PEN)’s approach of training STEM teachers to employ hands-on activities using low-cost, locally-available resources was studied in terms of student learning outcomes, attitudes towards learning science, and interest in STEM majors/ careers. Over a 2.5-month period, the science teacher at each experimental school received a weekly training on a hands-on activity and lesson observation by the respective PEN Trainer. A survey on attitudes towards science and a previous edition of the national exam (BECE) were administered to all students before and after the intervention. The mean pre-post differences were compared between the experimental and control schools. The intervention caused an average of 10.9% increase in exam scores (difference-in-differences), but the results were mixed at the school-level. Unpaired t-tests and Hedge’s g tests were used to determine statistical significance between the two groups. Student engagement increased significantly (p = 3 x 10 -7 , g = 0.85), and student enjoyment of science increased 22% more, on average. The intervention disproportionately affected the females positively, enabling greater learning gains (14.5% vs. 5.3% for the males), greater increase in engagement, and a significant shift in interest towards STEM majors and careers, which their male counterparts did not experience. Results from this study should inform the design of future studies with longer duration and which account for factors such as school infrastructure quality.en_US
dc.description.sponsorshipPractical Education Network (PEN)en_US
dc.identifier.citationBeem, H. (2020). Effect of Hands-on Science Activities on Ghanaian Student Learning, Attitudes, and Career Interest: A Preliminary Control Study. Global Journal of Transformative Education, 2(1).en_US
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11988/597
dc.language.isoen_USen_US
dc.publisherGlobal Journal of Transformative Educationen_US
dc.relation.isversionofOriginal version is https://scholarworks.iu.edu/journals/index.php/gjte/article/view/31224/35793
dc.subjectGhanaen_US
dc.subjectSTEMen_US
dc.subjecthands-on activitiesen_US
dc.subjectattitudesen_US
dc.subjectjunior high schoolen_US
dc.titleEffect of hands-on science activities on Ghanaian student learning, attitudes, and career interest: A preliminary control studyen_US
dc.typeArticleen_US

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