Effects of Chemistry Instruction Using the FAR Guide on Learning Achievement and Learning Retention of Upper Secondary School Students

Abstract

This study was quasi-experimental research. The purposes of this research were to 1) compare the learning achievement of students who learned chemistry through FAR guide model and students who learned chemistry through conventional teaching method and 2) compare the learning retention of students who learned chemistry through FAR guide model and students who learned chemistry through conventional teaching method. The samples were 75 tenth grade students of secondary school in the office of the basic education commission, selected by purposive sampling from two classrooms of tenth grade students of a school in Nonthaburi. One class of 37 students was randomly assigned to the experimental group and another class of 38 students was randomly assigned to the controlled group. The research duration took 6 weeks through 10 times of instruction. The research instrument was FAR guide model lesson plans, traditional model lesson plans and achievement tests. The collected data were analysed by arithmetic mean, standard deviation, independent-samples t-test, pairedsamples t-test and analysis of covariance (ANCOVA). The research findings were summarized as follows: 1) Students who learned chemistry through FAR guide model had higher mean scores of learning achievement than students who learn chemistry through conventional teaching method at .05 level of significance and 2) Both students who learned chemistry through FAR guide model and students who learn chemistry through conventional teaching method had no learning retention and had no difference of mean scores of learning retention at .05 level of significance.