Innovative Pedagogy and Improvement of Students’ Knowledge Retention in Science Education: Learning Activity Package Instructional Approach

Abstract

Knowledge retention can be described as the ability of the students to assimilate available information during the learning process and recall/apply such knowledge obtained over time. Previously, students’ active involvement in the teaching and learning processes through innovative pedagogies has enhanced their capacity for knowledge retention. This study, therefore, evaluated the potency of innovative pedagogy, the learning activity package (LAP), in fostering students’ knowledge retention in science subjects in secondary schools, using gender as a moderating variable. The design was quasi-experimental. The sample was 208 class two students grouped into experimental and control groups exposed to LAP and lecture methods, respectively. Data were obtained using the Chemistry Achievement and Retention Test and analyzed with mean, standard deviation, standard error, and the analysis of covariance, computed with SPSS. The findings revealed that the innovative pedagogy improved the students’ knowledge retention in science more than the lecture method at F (1,202) = 45.72, p = .00, p ˂ .05. Besides, there was no interaction effect of method and gender on the students’ retention of knowledge in science at F (1, 203) = 2.47, p = .12, p > .05. The implication is the avalanche of innovative science teachers who blend their instructional strategies to provide for the student’s active participation in the teaching-learning processes for enhanced students’ knowledge retention in science subjects. This research is novel because science teachers can easily adopt the LAP approach for effective lesson delivery, culminating in enhanced students’ knowledge retention in secondary schools in developing nations.