TITLE:
Does Learner-Centred Approach Improve High School Learners’ Understanding of Acids and Bases Topic? A Case of Two Selected Secondary Schools in Ohangwena Region, Namibia
AUTHORS:
Sanio I. T. Mutilifa, Hileni M. Kapenda
KEYWORDS:
Learner-Centred Approach, Physical Science, Effectiveness, Acids and Bases, Teaching and Learning, Social Constructivism, High School Learners, Namibia
JOURNAL NAME:
Creative Education,
Vol.8 No.8,
July
13,
2017
ABSTRACT:
This paper presents findings on a study that was conducted at two selected
secondary schools in Ohangwena educational region in Namibia. The study
used a quantitative approach to investigate if using learner-centred approach
improves learners’ understanding of acids and bases. With a sample of 80
grade 11 learners taking Physical Science Ordinary level, a quasi-experimental
design was used to collect data from two schools for two weeks (one week at
each school). The Pre-test, post-test scores from the control group consisting
of 40 learners from school A and an experimental group of 40 learners from
school B were used to establish the cause and effect relationship between the
use of Learner-Centred Approach (LCA) and learners’ understanding of acids
and bases based on their performance in the tests were given. Descriptive statistics
was used to analyse the quantitative data from the tests cores and a
t-test analysis was conducted for both groups. The study results indicated that
the experimental group performed better than the control group. It also
emerged that using various learner-centred activities attracted learners’ interests
in learning and understanding acids and bases. It is therefore concluded
that learner-centred approaches improved high school learners’ understanding
of the topic acids and bases. The study recommends that Physical Science
teachers should make the teaching and learning of acids and bases more practical-based by using learner-centred approaches.