Effect of a Constructivist Instructional Strategy on Affective Outcomes by Integrated Science Students

Abstract

Advocacy for the use of constructivist instructional strategy for teaching science at the primary and secondary school levels is very phenomenal in the literature on science education. This advocacy is strengthened by the assumption that it improves affective outcomes, among others, because it involves negotiation, among others, between the teacher and the students, during instruction. There is the need to seek empirical evidence to support, or not, this advocacy. This study therefore, sought to find out if the constructivist strategy will enhance affective outcomes among integrated science students. Two hundred (111 boys and 89 girls) junior secondary two (grade 8) students participated in this study. Affective Achievement Test with reasonable psychometric integrity, was administered before and after treatment, which utilized a non-equivalent control group design, to measure the treatment effect. The results [F(1, 191) = 69.378, p < 0.05] support the use of the strategy for improving affective outcomes. The results also indicated that the students in conducive psychosocial environment had superior affective outcomes than their counterparts in non-conducive environment [F(1, 191) = 8.067, p < 0.05]. No significant difference in affective achievement between high and low cognitive achievers was observed [F(1, 191) = 1.965, p > 0.05]. Interaction effects among the variables were not significant. Implications of the findings are discussed and recommendations are made.