Effects of Project-Based Learning on Students' Achievement in Secondary School Physics in Bokkos Local Governement Area, Plateau State

Abstract

This study investigated the effects of project-based learning on students' achievement in secondary school physics in Bokkos Local Government Area, Plateau state. It employed the non-equivalent, control group, pre-test, post-test quasi-experimental design. Fifty (50) SS II students from two co-educational secondary schools were used as sample and were tested on the concepts of propagation and production of waves using a developed 25-item Waves Achievement Test (WAT) whose reliability coefficient was 0.85 using Kuder-Richardson (KR-20) method. Two research questions were raised and answered using mean and standard deviation scores while three hypotheses were formulated and tested using One-way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA). The analyses revealed,amongst others, that students taught using project-based learning (PBL) achieved significantly higher than those instructed under the conventional lecture method. Based on the findings, recommendations were made which include suggesting that physics teachers should adopt PBL as one of the methods of instruction in secondary schools.