Impact of Concept Based Activities (CBA) on Retention of Knowledge of Students in General Science at Elementary School Level
Abstract
The knowledge that individuals acquire is rapidly forgotten because it is a natural phenomenon. However, various factors are pertinent for one’s memory and knowledge retention ability. This skill has not previously been compared between students who passed and failed a specific general science examination. Therefore, this quantitative study investigates how Concept Based Activities (CBAs) affect students' academic performance through retention of knowledge. Using purposive sampling for school selection and random sampling for group selection, 100 pupils from Government Boys Primary School Dingi and Government Girls Primary School Dingi were chosen as a sample for the quantitative study. This sample was first split into two primary groups, namely experimental and control, based on the results of the pre-test. A 2X2 Factorial design was used in present research study. Experimental group was taught through concept -based activities (CBA)while control group were taught through traditional lecture method (TLM). For this purpose, two trained teachers of primary school of GPS Dingi and GGPS Dingi were hired voluntarily. The two teachers were trained by researcher, one was used concept-based method for experimental group and the other was used TLM for control group. After eight weeks of teaching to both groups the researcher administered posttest to both groups. Therefore, after posttest both groups were treated for next four weeks. After twelve (12) Weeks, a retention test was taken from students based on posttest and retention test. The quality of learning positively correlates with the CBA (CONCEPT BASED ACTIVITIES). Long term memory (LTM) and knowledge retention abilities are significantly better and best performer students and statistically correlate with each other. Therefore, it is advised to conduct these tests on a regular basis to evaluate long-term memory and
knowledge retention so that suitable techniques to improve these can be used. The analysis of collected data was done by using mean scores, standard deviation and Paired sample sample T-Test with Cohens D for effect of size to compare student’s retention of knowledge in both groups. The results showed a significant difference between scores in two groups. The findings of the study suggested that there was significant positive impact of retention on the academic performance of students present in current research study. The concept-based activities (CBA) as an independent variable was an effective practice for the experimental group.
Keywords; Concept based activities (CBA), Traditional lecture method (TLM), Experimental and Control group, Retention test, Posttest, Factorial Design, Cohens D, Paired sample T-test
