Interactive instructional approaches to teaching and their effect on students' performance: a case study of teacher trainees in Ghana

This study determined the effect of an interactive approach to teaching and learning on students’ performance in selected topics in Integrated Science. The study took place at the University of Education, Winneba, in the central region of Ghana. First year integrated science students were purposively selected for the study. The sample of the study comprised of 40 Level 100 students made up of 4 females and 36 males. Test items were the main instruments used to collect data for the study.  The students completed a pre-intervention test before each lesson after which the interactive instructional approach was used to teach the selected topics in Integrated Science. The students then completed a similar test but different in content as a post intervention-test. Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 20.0, for windows and Hake’s normalized gain were used to analyse the data. The findings from the average normalized gain of the post intervention and pre-intervention test scores showed a gain of 0.76, indicating the effectiveness of this interactive instructional approach. The study recommends the use of interactive instructional approach for teaching Integrated Science lessons at the first-year level of the university.

Keywords: interactive instruction, concept-based, VARK modes, case study, Integrated Science