Differentiated Activities in Selected Topics in Chemistry for Grade 9 Students

Abstract

This study aims to develop differentiated activities (DA) in selected topics in Chemistry for Grade 9 students of Talipan National High School. With the use of a modified questionnaire, the multiple intelligences (MI) of the 55 student-respondents were 35% of respondents for Bodily-Kinesthetic Intelligence, 31% for Interpersonal Intelligence, 18% and 16% for Musical and Intrapersonal Intelligences, respectively. These data served as a basis in developing the DA. The material, pretest and posttest questionnaire were evaluated and validated by the some experts and by science teachers prior to its utilization. The profile, in terms of mean ratings in Chemistry and pretest means, of the control and experimental groups were also determined. Both groups have a mean rating of 79, resulting to the computed t-value of -0.55 and pretest means of 15.42 (control group - CG) and 15.00 (experimental group- EG), which obtained a computed t-value of -0.38. Since the computed t-values were both less than the tabular t-value (1.98), the two groups were said to be equivalent and there’s no significant difference between them. Furthermore, the quasi-experimental research using a matched-comparison group design was used to validate the designed DA by comparing the scores of the two groups. The posttest scores of the two groups were compared after the utilization of the material. The EG obtained the highest score of 44 and the lowest score of 13, while the CG had a highest score of 35 and 7 as the lowest. These data resulted to a mean of 30.04 (EG) and 19.04 (CG) giving them a difference of 11. The computed t-value was 7.50 which was greater than the tabular t-value (1.98). This means that after the utilization of the material, there is now a significant difference between the groups. The EG performed better and obtained higher scores compare to the CG. This proved the effectiveness of the developed DA. With the use of the modified questionnaire and weighted mean, the usability of the material was determined. In terms of usefulness, ease of use, ease of learning and satisfaction, the obtained results were 3.66, 3.26, 3.27 and 3.69, respectively. These responses were all under the verbal description of strongly agree. This means that the developed DA helps the students to cater their skills and intelligences. It gave them the freedom and opportunity to their tasks in a manner they want. It served as a chance for them to excel in the class with the use of their identified MIs.