Impact of Active Learning Method on Students Academic Achievement in Physics at Secondary School Level in Pakistan

Abstract

This research aimed to explore the effectiveness of active learning method on students' academic achievement in Physics at secondary school level. A null hypothesis, of no significant difference in the academic achievement of students, taught physics through Active Learning Method (ALM) and Traditional Teaching Method (TTM), was tested to achieve the objectives. For this purpose, the pretest-posttest control group experimental design was used. Eighty (80) Physics students of 9th grade were selected as a sample from Government Centennial Model Higher Secondary School (No.1) District Haripur. These students were equally divided into experimental and control groups (n=40) on the basis of pre-test scores. Experimental and control groups were taught Physics contents through ALM and TTM respectively for twelve (12) weeks. Physics Academic Achievement Test (PAAT) with '0.82' as reliability coefficient was used to collect pretreat-ment and post-treatment data for measuring the academic achievement of the students. The analyzed data indicated that the experimental group significantly performed better in all the focused learning levels (knowl-edge, understanding, application, problem-solving, observation, and reasoning) as well as an overall academic achievement than the control group. By these findings, the frequent use of ALM is recommended in the science subjects especially for teaching Physics.