Kenneth Darko Ateko

In this study, the effects of 5E Instructional Model (5E), Differentiated Instruction (DI) and conventional teaching method on Senior High School (SHS) physics students’ academic performance in Thermal Physics were compared. Method: By employing a quasi-experimental pretest/posttest non-equivalent control group design, 291 SHS 2 physics students were used from six intact classes which were randomly selected from three SHSs in the Mampong Municipality and Sekyere South District. The hypotheses were tested using one-way ANCOVA and two-way ANCOVA at α=0.05. The results showed that there was a significant effect of at least one of the teaching methods on the academic performance of students (F(1,287)=150.766, p=0.001<0.05), with students taught using DI obtaining the highest adjusted mean scores of 18.978 (std. error = 0.437), followed by those taught using 5E group (adjusted mean = 16.373, std. error=0.430), and those taught using the conventional teaching method (adjusted mean score = 13.734, std. error = 0.452). Also, there was a significant interaction between gender and teaching method (F(1,284)=241.395, p=0.001<0.05) with no significant difference observed between male and female students taught using DI (mean difference=0.233, p=0.765) and 5E (mean difference=0.75, p=0.532), but a significant difference in academic performance between male and female SHS students taught using conventional teaching method (mean difference=8.284, p=0.000). It was therefore recommended, amongst others, that SHS physics teachers in Mampong Municipality and Sekyere South District should consider differentiating their students in order to tailor Thermal Physics lessons to all students, which will help them perform better.

Digital Transformation Education has received greater attention in teaching and learning, however, there is a scarcity of studies on the challenges, effectiveness, and perceptions of Computer-Assisted Instruction (CAI), especially in the Colleges of Education (CoE). In addressing these, the study used the mixed method research design using 12 Physics tutors and 254 Physics students from 3 CoE purposively selected from the Sekyere South District and the Mampong Municipality. Interviews and questionnaires were used for data collection and data analysis was done using Statistical Package for Social Sciences ¬(IBM SPSS), version 26.1, employing descriptive statistics and thematic analysis. The results indicated that Physics tutors generally face a high level of challenges, with inadequate technological resources and limited financial support posing the greatest hindrances. In response, tutors employed various strategies including personal investment in internet bundles and advocacy for institutional intervention. It was again found that both quantitative and qualitative findings converged after merging and that the qualitative findings agreed with the quantitative findings. It was concluded that tutors of Physics in the CoE in the Mampong Municipality and the Sekyere South District encounter challenges during their integration of CAI in their Physics lessons. However, since students of Physics in the CoE perceive the use of CAI as very positive to their academic lives, it was recommended that using CAI for teaching and learning Physics in the colleges of education should be fortified.<p> </p><p><strong> Article visualizations:</strong></p><p><img src="/-counters-/soc/0757/a.php" alt="Hit counter" /></p>