Assessing the Impact of Flipped Learning Pedagogy on Senior High School Physics Students’ Academic Performance, Retention and the Nature of Feedback: The Case of Electronics Concepts Studies.

Abstract

This study aimed at Assessing the Impact of Flipped Learning Pedagogy on Senior High School Physics Students’ Retention and the Nature of Feedback: The case of Electronics concepts studies. The study was carried out in the Old Tafo Municipality in the Ashanti Region of Ghana. The quasi-experimental non-equivalent groups’ pretest /posttest design was used in this study. Two intact classes consisting of 103 SHS 3 Physics students were used for the study. This research employed five instruments in data collection, namely, Electronics Concept Test (ECT), Student Perception SemiStructured Interview Guide (SPSIG), Electronics Difficulty Semi-Structured Interview Guide (EDSIG), Electronics Difficulty Scale (EDS) and Transformed Electronic Concept Test (TECT). The research comprised four research questions and two hypotheses. Descriptive statistics such as mean, standard deviation, normalized mean gain and mean difference were used to answer the research question, while one-way between groups analysis of covariance (one-way ANCOVA) and the Split Plot Analysis of Variance (SPANOVA) were used to test the hypotheses. Results of this study revealed that students had a “very high” level of difficulty in the teaching and learning of Electronics (M= 3.4468, SD=0.22403). It was also found that there was a significant effect of the use of Flipped Classroom Instructional strategy in enhancing SHS Physics students’ academic performance (F (1, 100) = 138.532, p=0.00<0.05; effect size=0.581) and retention (Wilk’s Lambda=0.038, F (3,99) = 830.746, p=0.000<0.05; effect size=0.962) in Electronics. Students expressed in a semi-structured interview that Flipped Learning aided them to better understand Electronics concepts, remain focused to their books and studies and collaborate with their classmates for better studying. It was therefore concluded that using Flipped Learning in the teaching and learning of Electronics was effective in enhancing SHS Physics students’ academic performance and retention. It was recommended amongst others that SHS Physics teachers in Old Tafo Municipality should adopt Flipped Learning in the teaching and learning of Electronics.