Effects of Project-based learning approach on students' achievement and retention in basic science in Bosso Local Government Area, Niger State

Abstract

The need to cnhance the academic achievement and retention of students in Basic scicnce callcd for this study as it sought to determine effects of projcct-based learning approach (PBLA) on academic achievement and retention of Junior Secondary School (JSS) students in Basic Scicnce. The study was carricd out in Bosso Local Government Area (BLGA) of Niger State and adopted the quasi-cxperimcntal research design, precisely, pretest, posttest, delayed posttcst nonrandomized control group design which involves groups of students in their intact classes. A sample of 411 JSS II students was drawn from a population of 8220 students of state-owned Secondary Schools in BLGA. Two research questions and two null hypotheses tested at 0.05 level of significance guided the study. Basic Scicnce Achievement Test (BSAT), a 20-item multiple choice tests which was based on the units covered in the study, served as the instrument used for data collection. The BSAT and lesson plans for both control and experimental groups were all validated by three experts from the Department of scicnce education, Federal University of Technology Minna Niger State. The reliability coefficient of the instrument was found to be 0.82 using KR-20. Mean and standard deviation were used to answer the research questions, while Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA) was employed to test the hypotheses. Findings revealed that those taught using PBLA had higher posttest and delayed posttest scores than those taught using the conventional teaching method. Based on the findings of this study, it was concluded that PBLA has the potential to improve students’ academic achievement and retention in Basic science. Consequently, it was recommended among others that Basic science teachers should use PBLA in the teaching of Basic science so as to enhance students’ academic achievement and retention in the subject.