Effects of Problem Based Learning Method and Lecture Teaching Method on Academic Achievement of Students

Abstract

The research examined the effects of Problem Based Learning (PBL) and Lecture teaching method (LTM) on students’ achievement in agriculture subject. This research was necessitated by consistent poor performance of students in agriculture subject in the national examination, Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE). The aim was to determine and compare the achievement of students in PBL and LTM. Quasi-Experimental design, following a Non-equivalent Control Group Pre-test-Post-test was adopted. PBL was the treatment, while LTM group was control. All the students of agriculture and teachers of agriculture formed the target population. Stratified random sampling was used to sample 12 schools. Six schools were subjected to PBL while the other six schools followed LTM. The sample size was 484 Form Two agriculture students and 12 teachers of agriculture. Data were collected through agriculture achievement test. Descriptive statistics and analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) was used to analyse the data. The results established that PBL has the greatest potential in improving students’ achievement in agriculture compared with LTM. The PBL method significantly (p