Contextualized Brainstorming in Teaching Grade 8 Science Students

Abstract

Contextualized brainstorming has been noted to increase student's engagement and understanding in science concepts and is positively effective in their educational achievement. Thus, the study assessed the effectiveness of contextualized collaborative techniques in teaching Science. A true experimental research using cross over research design was applied. It was conducted at Campusong National High School with the 60 Grade 8 science learners as participants of the study selected using intact sampling. Also, Focus Group Discussion was employed with 5 students selected. Validated pre-test and posttest questionnaires with 0.71 and 0.85 reliability indexes, respectively were the main instruments used to assess the performance of the participants. The gathered data were computed using Frequency Distribution, Simple Percentage, Mean Formula, Standard Deviation Formula and T-test for Independent Samples. Contextualized brainstorming was found to be more effective for students than direct instruction in both the before and post-tests of the study. In addition, it was discovered that the performance of learners in Group1 and Group2 differed significantly when they were subjected to direct instruction and contextualised brainstorming. In the end, both groups exposed to both strategies fared much better in contextualised brainstorming compared to direct instruction at the end of the experiment. Lastly, students have more positive experiences in contextualized brainstorming than direct instruction. On the basis of the results, an enhanced instructional plan was constructed to be adapted and utilized by the science teachers in teaching to improve the performance of the Grade 8 students.