Evaluation of traditional and skill-oriented teaching and assessment in enhancing generic skills of students in chemistry components in grade seven science: a case study in Central Province, Sri Lanka

Abstract

Formative and summative assessments are used to evaluate students’ learning process to fulfil intended learning outcomes. This research examines the effectiveness of traditional teaching and assessment versus skills-oriented instruction and assessment in enhancing generic skills in learning Chemistry in Grade Seven class in the Central Province of Sri Lanka. This is an experimental study employing a mixed methods approach. Two subunits from the Grade Seven science curriculum were selected for instruction. Nine Schools were selected from the central province with a sample size of 636 students by convenience sampling. Two parallel classes of Grade Seven in each school were selected. A Pre-test was administered to both classes to ensure comparability of the groups. One class was considered a control group, and the other class was an experimental group. In the 2nd sub-unit, these groups were interchanged. The first lesson was conducted using the traditional method for the control group and using skill-oriented instructional and assessment methods for the experimental group. The parallel classes were switched over in the second lesson, employing the same teachers. After the teaching-learning process, post-tests were administered to both groups for both lessons. While conducting both traditional and skill-oriented learning, generic skills were observed by the researcher with the help of three other teachers with scoring rubrics. The difference between the mean scores of pre-tests, post-tests and generic skill tests were compared. According to the results, skilloriented groups showed significantly higher performance than the traditional group. Furthermore, the observational data analysis demonstrated that the students of the skill-oriented instructional group demonstrated better orientation to real-life situations. Findings from focus group discussions with students and teachers reveal that skill-oriented instruction and assessments cultivate much higher generic skills than traditional instructions and assessments. According to the above, the current teaching-learning process has to be re-evaluated to enhance students’ meaningful learning in the chemistry component of Grade Seven science.