THE EFFECT OF ACTIVITY-BASED TEACHING METHOD IN ELECTRIC CIRCUITS

This study examined the effectiveness of activity-based teaching method in electric circuits. The research population consisted of hundred (100) first year science education students enrolled at a South African university, both from South Africa's OBE-based curriculum (the NCS) and the Old school curriculum(OSC, the Nated 550). Changes in students knowledge and the reasons they attributed for conceptual change were investigated. A single pre-test/post-test comparison group design was followed. Data analysis was carried out by the use of the " t" test statistic, as well as the average normalised gain < g> scores. The findings showed highly statistically significant gains between the pre-test and post-test scores for both NCS and OSC groups on all the measures(p < 0,05). The average normalised gain was larger than 0,3, thus indicating the effectiveness of the intervention). There was no significant difference in the performance of the two groups.