Results of Using the Take-away Technique on Students’ Achievements and Attitudes in High School Physics and Physical Science Courses

Abstract

The Take-away Technique was used in High School Physics and Physical Science courses for the unit on Newtonian mechanics in a teacher (6) by grade level (4) partially crossed design (N = 272). All classes received the same IE instructional treatment. The experimental group (classrooms) did a short Take-away after each class summarizing the key concepts and points covered in the class, whereas the control group (classrooms) wrote a short evaluation of what they liked and disliked about the class. The experimental group performed better than the control group on the standardized Force Concepts Inventory achievement measure (Hestenes et al., 1992) using Hake normalized gain scores by a quarter to two-thirds of a standard deviation. Neither group showed the typical decline in attitudes towards Physics that occurs in IE approaches. The experimental group students gave the same positive benefits for the Take-away technique as given in a previous study done with college undergraduates in a psychology course with those students in the control group citing much lower rates of these benefits and primarily emotional expression benefits. Given its design, the increased achievement observed in this study could be attributed directly to the Take-away technique as opposed to other rival hypotheses.