Raising the Achievement and Retention Levels of Secondary School Students in Physics Through Brain-Based Learning Strategy in Taraba State, Nigeria

Abstract

This study investigated the effects of Brain-Based Learning Strategy on Students’ Achievement and Retention in Physics in Jalingo Education Zone, Taraba State. Quasi-experimental design, involving non-equivalent control group design was used for the study. Four research questions guided the study while four null hypotheses were tested at .05 level of significance. The population consisted of 2115 secondary school II students offering Physics from public secondary schools. The sample size for the study was 88 students offering Physics in secondary school II; consisting of 54 males and 34 females drawn from two public science oriented secondary schools using multistage sampling techniques. The instrument used for the study was Physics Students’ Achievement Test (PSAT) with reliability index of 0.72. The research questions were answered using mean and standard deviation, while the null hypotheses were tested at 0.05 level of significance using Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA). The findings revealed that there was statistical significant difference between the mean achievement and mean retention scores of students taught Physics using Brain-Based learning strategy and those students taught using conventional learning strategy. However, the findings on gender revealed that there is no statistical significant difference in the achievement and retention scores of male and female students taught Physics using Brain-Based learning strategy. It is therefore recommended that pre-service Physics teachers’ trainees should be trained on the use of Brain-Based learning strategy, and teachers of Physics should be encouraged to use Brain-Based learning strategy to improve and bridge the gap between male and female physics students’ academic achievement and retention.

Keywords: Brain-Based Learning; achievement in physics; knowledge retention in physics; conventional strategy; gender