The learning cycle: a Piagetian based approach in teaching chemical reactions and equations

• Main Author: Pili, Adora Soriano
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Animo Repository 1984
• Subjects: Chemical reactions; Chemical equations; Chemistry
• Online Access: https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/etd_masteral/1051
• Institution: De La Salle University

This study investigates the effects of the Piagetian-based learning cycle approach as compared with the traditional approach on the learning of chemical reactions and equations, a unit in general chemistry I. Conducted during the latter part of the first semester of school year 1983-1984, a sample of 212 first year students at the Technological University of the Philippines were used. The samples included intact sections of technician and technical students which were assigned into experimental and control groups the experimental being subjected to the learning cycle approach and the control to the traditional approach. Both groups were initially compared in terms of the following factors - number of sections, course, General Chemistry I schedule and Chemistry instructors. The instructors involved were also compared in terms of performance rating, educational attainment, number of chemistry units taken, etc. From a preliminary inventory, the unit in Chemical Reactions and Equations turned out to be the most difficult in terms of teachers' perceptions and students' experiences. The achievement of the desired learning objectives was determined through a teacher-made test consisting of 30 items. A quasi-experimental design was adopted in the study. F-test and t-test as well as the analysis of skewness and kurtosis were used to compare the IQ scores and mean grade of the experimental and control groups. A one-way ANOVA was conducted on students' posttest scores to determine whether significant difference exists between the achievement of students in both groups. The t-test for dependent samples was used to determine whether the gain in the concrete as well as in the formal level items obtained by samples were significant. To determine further if significant difference exists between these gains in both groups, the t-test for independent samples was used. A one-way ANOVA was performed to test whether type of students (technician and technical) has significant effect upon their improvement in reasoning patterns and