The Effectiveness of Graphic Organizers in Fostering the Learning of Chemical Bonding in Chemistry

Abstract

Graphic Organizers are visual and graphic display that illustrates the correlations between facts, terms, and ideas with a learning task. Integrating Graphic Organizers can enhance the efficiency of the teacher's delivery of lessons and students' learning. However, no study had been conducted in using graphic organizers in the process of teaching and learning. Therefore, this explanatory mixed-method study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of Graphic Organizers in teaching Chemical Bonding to grade nine (n=98) students in Samtse Dzongkhag, Bhutan. The study's main objective was to compare the academic achievement of the control group (n=53) and experimental group (n=45) and also to investigate students' and teachers' (n=6) perceptions of using Graphic Organizers in teaching and learning Chemistry over four weeks. Learning achievement tests (pre-test and post-test), semi structured interviews, and survey questionnaires were used to collect the quantitative data and qualitative data. The independent sample t-test analysis of the post-test scores revealed a statistically significant difference between the control group and the experimental group with a mean difference value of 1.17 (p=0.017), indicating that the use of Graphic Organizers improved the students' learning achievement which was also reflected in the qualitative data gathered through interview and survey questionnaire. As a result, this study strongly suggests the use of graphic Organizers as a teaching and learning tool to improve students' academic performance in Chemistry.