The effect of constructivist instructional approach on students’ performance in chemical bonding concepts

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine the effectiveness of instruction based on constructivist approach on students‘ achievement and views of students towards constructivist instructional approach in teaching chemical bonding. The study was a mixed-method (quantitative and qualitative) within the Action Research Paradigm. A diagnostic pre-intervention and post-intervention test questions and a questionnaire were used to collect data. The questionnaire was on a 5-point Likert Scale and was used to investigate students‘ attitude towards constructivist instructions. The mean percentage of students on correct answer for the pre intervention Multiple Choice Questions was 38.6 percent and that of the post intervention was 88.0 and for the pre-intervention theory it was 27.13 and that of the post-intervention theory was 83.207. The findings of this study showed that students‘ conceptual understanding and performance in chemical bonding was largely improved after instructions based on the constructivist approach. The study also showed that majority of students appealed more to the constructivist approach than traditional instructions. Students agreed to have a higher interest in the participatory class since the mean of attitudinal scale was 3.9; they also agreed that chemistry should be taught in an interactive way with a mean of 3.8 on the attitudinal scale. It was therefore recommended that active student‘s participation approach could be used in the teaching of chemical bonding for effective learning and conception of chemical bonding.