THE EFFECT OF ACTIVITY-BASED INSTRUCTIONAL APPROACHES IN AMELIORATING ALTERNATIVE CONCEPTIONS ABOUT ELECTRIC CIRCUITS

This study investigated first year university students' alternative conceptions about electric circuits and the effect of an activity-based instructional approach in ameliorating these alternative conceptions. The research sample consisted of hundred (100) first-year science education students enrolled at a South African university, both from South Africa's new OBE-based curriculum (the NCS) and the old school curriculum (OSC, the Nated 550). A pre-post-test comparison group design was followed. Data analysis was carried out by use of "t" test statistics, as well as the average normalised gain <g> scores. The findings showed highly statistically significant gains between the pre- and post-test scores for both the OBE and OSC groups on all the measures (p < 0, 05), thus indicating the effectiveness of the intervention. However, there was no statistically significant difference in the performance of the two groups on the post-test, suggesting that the school curriculum followed by the students prior to coming to university had no significant effect on their performance, following an activity-based instructional intervention. This was unexpected, given the radically different philosophical and pedagogical foundations of OBE vis-a-vis the OSC.