Effects of advanced organizers on attainment and retention of students’ concept of gravity in Nigeria

Abstract

This study on the effects of advanced organizers on attainment and retention of students' concept of gravity in Nigeria was carried out to find out the efficacy of using advanced organizers to teach students the concepts of gravitation, weightlessness and space travels which are topics the students of junior secondary one have not been previously taught. 80 junior secondary one students from two secondary schools in Delta state Nigeria were used for the study. The students were grouped into two; the advanced-organizer and control group.The exercise took place in six weeks. The advanced organizers were given before each of the four lessons to those in the experimental groups while those in the control had no organizers; they were only taught lessons same with the students in the experimental groups. The dependent variables are the students' attainment and students' retention of the concept of gravity while the independent variable are the advanced organizers. Two research hypotheses and two research questions were stated. Using simple descriptive statistics and t-test statistical analysis the two hypotheses were rejected because there were significant differences in the attainment and retention of concepts of gravity by students in favor of the advanced organizer group. Based on the results educational implications and conclusions were stated.

Effects of Advance Organizers on Students’ Achievement in Biology in Secondary Schools in Kilifi County, Kenya

“…Maryam, Moenikia and Zahed-Babelan (2010) argue that advance organizers are effective ways to facilitate the task because they can provide an overview of a new topic and visually represent links between the concepts to be learned. A study by Atomatofa (2013) revealed that Advance lead to improved students' achievement and retention than those taught using conventional teaching methods. Advance organizers are cognitive bridges, which teachers use to help learners make a link between what they know and what is to be learnt (Novak, 1980).…”