Activity Based Learning in Teaching Variation among Grade Nine Students of Luyos National High School

Abstract

INTRODUCTION

Mathematics plays a vital role in people's daily lives but many students in secondary schools’ experience difficulties in learning some aspects of the Mathematics curriculum. In Luyos National High School, for example, grade nine students achieved poor performance in Mathematics based on their first periodical test. To address this, the researcher made action research on how activity-based learning can improve teaching and the learning of the students. Activity-based learning is a process where learners are actively engaged inthe learning process rather than passively absorbing lectures.

METHODS

The researcher focused on the use of activity-based learning using different activities in teaching variation. Forty-nine grade nine students of the school responded to a set of the lesson. They were given a pretest before the lesson to assess their primary knowledge and to determine which activity will be used for them. After the lesson, they were given a post-test to see if they really learned the lesson.

RESULTS

As a research, the teacher used a variety of activities such as brainstorming, jigsaw puzzle, think-pair-share, one-minute paper/ reflection, round table, respond react and reply, post it parade, buzz group, and fishbowl for each lesson to see their applicability in the class. Among those activities, the most effective was the buzz group and the think-pair-share where all students actively participated in the learning process. Most of the students who participated in the researched had a very high and high performance in all aspects of the lesson about variation. It shows that majority of the students developed mastery of the lesson through the use of activity-based learning. It also increased the number of students who participated in the class discussion and increased their comfort in sharing ideas and in receiving more feedback from their peers which allowed them to have mastery over the lesson.

DISCUSSIONS

The results demonstrate that activity-based learning is a big help for students to easily cope with the lesson as they were not just absorbing the lectures but they were actively engaged in the learning. They also enjoyed the lesson. Teachers can also conduct another study using the experimental method to test the reliability and validity of the study.