School of Teacher Education

Effects of Contextual Teaching Strategy and Learning Cycle on Secondary School Students‘ Biology Outcomes

Sun, 01 Jun 2025 00:00:00 GMT

Effects of Contextual Teaching Strategy and Learning Cycle on Secondary School Students‘ Biology Outcomes Melesse, Daniel Enhancing students‘ interest in biology and academic success necessitates the adoption of effective teaching methods. This research investigated the effect of a context-based instructional approach with the five stages of the learning cycle (engage, explore, explain, elaborate, evaluate) on biology learning among secondary school students in Dessie City Administration, North-Central Ethiopia. Using a quasi-experimental design with pre- and posttests, the study employed an embedded mixed-methods research approach. Two sample schools were selected and a class from each of the schools was randomly allocated to the experimental group or the comparison group. The experimental group studied environmental contents through context-based instructional approach with the five stages of the learning cycle, while the comparison group received instruction using conventional instructional approach for five weeks. Assessment tools included achievement tests, science process skills evaluations, and motivation surveys, administered as pretest s and posttests. Qualitative data were gathered through classroom observations and student interviews. Quantitative analyses employed independent and paired samples t-tests, as well as ANCOVA, while qualitative data were analyzed thematically. The study found that the context-based instructional approach was significantly improved academic achievement, basic and integrated science process skills, and motivation compared to conventional methods (F-values range from 47.86 to 314.13, all p < 0.001). Interestingly, no significant gender differences in posttest scores or motivation levels were identified within the experimental group. Overall, the context- based approach with the five stages of the learning cycle was more effective than conventional instructional approach in terms of improving the learning achievement and motivation of students in biology education. Furthermore, its impact was gender-neutral. Based on these findings, the use of this approach by biology teachers and curriculum developers is recommended to achieve improved student learning outcomes and motivation in biology. Additional studies must investigate the effectiveness of context- based methods at other grade levels and in varying contexts

Effects of Text Modification on EFL Students’ Reading Comprehension and Reading Motivation: Ethiopian Secondary School Students in focus

Thu, 01 May 2025 00:00:00 GMT

Effects of Text Modification on EFL Students’ Reading Comprehension and Reading Motivation: Ethiopian Secondary School Students in focus Keneferegib, Asefa The purpose of this study was to explore the effects of text modification on the reading comprehension achievements and reading motivation of general secondary school students in Ethiopia. Drawing on input processing and cognitive theories, the researcher hypothesized that text modification would enhance both students' reading comprehension and their motivation to engage with reading. A quasi-experimental design with a pre-test and post-test comparison group was employed to examine this hypothesis. The study involved 105 Grade 10 students from three sections at Fasilo General Secondary School in Bahir Dar, Ethiopia, during the first semester of the 2023 academic year. The participants were divided into three groups: a simplified text group, an elaborated text group, and a control group, each consisting of 35 students. Over the course of 16 weeks, the experimental groups received modified texts either simplified or elaborated while the control group worked with unmodified, baseline texts. The study aimed to assess whether these modifications would have a significant impact on students’ reading comprehension and reading motivation. Data were collected using reading comprehension tests, a reading motivation questionnaire, and interviews with participants. Statistical analysis using one-way ANOVA was conducted to examine differences in reading comprehension achievements and motivation between the groups, with the significance level set at p<0.05. The results indicated that there were no significant differences between the three groups in terms of their pre-test reading comprehension and reading motivation scores. However, after the 16 week intervention, the experimental groups, both simplified and elaborated text groups significantly outperformed the control group on both the reading comprehension post-test and the post-reading motivation questionnaire, with p-values less than 0.05. The results of the study suggest that educators and language instructors can benefit from incorporating text modification into their teaching practices to enhance student outcomes in reading comprehension and motivation. Furthermore, the study's findings can contribute to curriculum development and instructional design in language education. Future research can build on these findings by exploring the impact of text modification on other language skills, such as writing and speaking, and by examining the role of teacher professional development in implementing text modification strategies.

Effects of Data-driven Learning Approach on EFL Learners’ Speaking Performance and Engagement

Thu, 01 May 2025 00:00:00 GMT

Effects of Data-driven Learning Approach on EFL Learners’ Speaking Performance and Engagement Chanie, Getasew This study aimed to examine the effects data-driven learning approach on EFL learners’ academic speaking performance and engagement. It also aimed at exploring learners’ perceptions of the DDL intervention. The study used a quasi-experimental research design that employed an interrupted time series design with single-group participants. The participants were fourth-year EFL major students at Mekdela Amba University, Ethiopia. In the intervention, which lasted for eight weeks, the participants were taught target language features for speaking via the data-driven learning approach. Tests, self-report surveys, questionnaires, and the students' reflective journals were used to collect data. One-way repeated measures ANOVA and one-sample t-test were used to analyze the quantitative data, while thematic analysis was employed for the reflective journals. Consequently, the findings of the one-way repeated measures ANOVA results (F (2.248, 31.470) = 381.503; p < 0.05) indicated that the data-driven learning approach had a statistically significant effect on participants’ academic speaking performance. Similarly, the results obtained from the reflective journals also indicated that incorporating authentic linguistic features in focused noticing and production activities during the intervention contributed to improving participants’ academic speaking performance. Moreover, the one sample t-test results about the participants’ engagement in the three dimensions: the behavioral engagement result (t(14)=8.454, p< 0.05); cognitive engagement result (t(14)=8. 508, p< 0.05), and emotional engagement result (t(14)= 13.759, p< 0.05), showed that the participants’ engagement in speaking during the DDL intervention was promising. Regarding participants’ perception, the findings showed that participants felt data-driven learning was beneficial to their speaking skills development and had positive attitudes to the utilization of the DDL approach in speaking instruction.

Effects of Teacher Scaffolding Instruction on EFL Students’ Writing Achievement and their Perceptions of the Instruction: Debre Tabor Secondary School in Focus

Sun, 01 Jun 2025 00:00:00 GMT

Effects of Teacher Scaffolding Instruction on EFL Students’ Writing Achievement and their Perceptions of the Instruction: Debre Tabor Secondary School in Focus Kemal, Seyidu This quasi-experimental study examined the effects of teacher scaffolding instruction on EFL students’ writing achievement and its consistency of the writing sub-skills and the proficiency-level groups. The study also explored the participants’ perceptions of teacher scaffolding instruction in their writing improvements. The participants were Grade 10 students, and data were collected using pre-post tests and close-ended questionnaires, and they all were analyzed quantitatively. The result of the independent samples test demonstrated that there was no statistically significant difference between the writing achievement mean score of the comparison group and the experimental group in the pretest (p=.955), showing that the study participants had comparable linguistic resources before commencing the study. Findings from a one-way MANOVA further proved that there was no statistically significant difference between the two groups pretest scores writing achievement in the combined dependent variables of using relevant content, vocabulary, grammatical structure, mechanic use, and organization as indicated by F (5, 90) =.615, p=0.689; Wilks Lambda=.967; partial eta squared (η2) =.033. The results proved students’ comparable linguistic backgrounds in their writing achievement at the outset. However, results from the paired-sample t-test showed a statistically significant difference between the pretest and post-test scores for the experimental group (p=.001), but insignificant differences for the comparison group (p=.426). An independent-sample t-test of the post-test also yielded a statistically significant difference between the two groups, favoring the experimental class (p=.001). The findings verified the teacher scaffolding instruction’s feasibility for improving students’ writing achievement. Results from a one-way MANOVA also proved that the writing subskills of content, vocabulary, grammatical structures, mechanics use, and organization jointly account for significant variance between the comparison and the experimental groups’ writing proficiency, in favor of the experimental group. Separate results of the variables revealed composing relevant content as the strongest predictor (F (1, 94) =35.08, p=.001), but no mechanics use differences between the two groups, F (1, 94) =.42, p=.520. The findings verified the instruction’s substantial role in enhancing learners’ overall writing achievement and all writing sub-skills except for mechanics use. Results from a one-way ANCOVA in pre-post-test scores unveiled the efficacy of teacher scaffolding instruction in improving EFL students’ writing skills for each proficiency level (p=0.001). After adjusting for the effect of the covariates, Bonferroni’s Pair-wise comparison at an α level of 0.05 further confirmed the low proficiency level group’s most significant writing improvement in the post-test compared to medium and high proficiency level groups. This implied that the independent variable (forms of teaching) influenced the dependent variable (writing achievement scores) significantly but differently between levels/groups, with the low proficiency level being the strongest predictor. Results from students’ questionnaire further affirmed participants’ positive perceptions of the efficacy of teacher scaffolding instruction for their writing improvements. Based on the findings, it is reasonable to conclude that teacher scaffolding instruction has promising effects on improving students’ writing skills.