Development and Evaluation of A Study Skills Enhancement Module for Improving the Achievement of Low Achievers from Std

9th in Economics .

MANISHA CHAWLA GUIDED BY:DR. KALPANA KHARADE

Research is to see what everybody else has seen and to think what nobody else has thought

Albert Szent-Gyorgyi

NEED
Inspite of Economics being most preferred subject, it is observed that students find difficult to learn nitty-grittys of Economics. All these results in unsatisfactory performance of a big proportion of students in Economics. So, overall effect is that it is related to the low achievement of learners in Economics.

NEED
Researchers study emphasizes on the fact that there are many studies on teaching of Economics but insufficient work is being done on learning of Economics, hence intervention is required in this subject. The researcher study of reviews in Economics shows gap in research of teaching/learning Economics.

After the exhaustive review conducted on study skills, the researcher felt that sufficient studies have been done on study skills On different subjects like Science General science Mathematics Polytechnic etc

With different methods: Co-operative learning Personalized system of instruction Case study Bruner and Ausubels method Problem solving method etc.

Considering above facts the researcher thought of introducing Study Skills to the higher secondary schools for learning Economics.

Statement of the problem

Development and Evaluation of A Study Skills Enhancement Module for Improving the Achievement of Low Achievers from Std 9th in Economics.

Variables of the study:

Independent variable: study skills enhancement module Dependent variable: achievement in Economics and development of study skills

Operational Definitions
Study skills Study skills are the abilities of the students to select and apply appropriate study strategies and approaches to learning. They include: Reading strategies, Note taking, Problem solving, Retaining the matter in memory, Presentation skills, Revisions, Bibliography skills, Writing assignments, Taking tests.

 Enhancement module refers to an instructional module which aims at enhancing the study skills among the low achievers in Economics through -ample guided practice -mentoring by the facilitators and peers Low achievers-Low achievers in the context of the present study refers to the students of STD 9th who have either failed or scored less than 50% marks in two unit tests and terminal examination in Economics during the academic year 2010-11

Achievement in Economics Refers to the difference in the pre-test and post-test marks of low achievers in Economics achievement test.

Aims of the study

This study was conducted keeping the following aims in mind: Developing an instructional module and enhancing study skills for improving the performance of low achievers in Economics from Std 9. Studying the effectiveness of study skills on low achievers from Std 9 in Economics.

Objectives of the Study:

To ascertain the pre test achievement scores of low achievers in Economics. To ascertain the pre test study skills scores of low achievers in Economics. To design an instructional module for enhancing the study skills and improving the achievement of low achievers in Economics. To ascertain the post test achievement scores of low achievers in Economics.

 To ascertain the post test study skills scores of low achievers in Economics. To compare the pre test and post test achievement scores of low achievers in Economics. To compare the pre test and post test study skills scores of low achievers in Economics. To study the perceived utility of study skills enhancement module as per the low achievers for learning Economics.

Hypothesis\Research Question:
1. In pursuit of the objectives 1, 3, 4 and 6 the following null hypothesis was formulated. H1: There is no significant difference between the pre test and post test achievement scores in Economics of low achievers 2. In pursuit of objectives 2, 3, 5 and 7 the following null hypothesis was formulated. H2: There is no significant difference between the pre test and post test study skills scores of low achievers in Economics.

3. For the pursuit of objective 8 the following research question was formulated. RQ1: What is according to low achievers from Std 9, perceived utility of study skills enhancement module for learning economics?

Research Design:
Methodology: - This was a mixed method research design. The researcher had selected the Embedded experimental model of mixed method research design .
This research was conducted in two phases:

The entire Research Design is diagrammatically shown as followEmbedded Experimental Model of Mixed Method Research Design

QUAN (qual)

Interpretation based On QUAN(qual)results

Sample for the Study:

The sample of this study comprises of 24 low achieving students in Economics of Standard 9th from Kendriya Vidyalaya School Bhandup, Mumbai.

Overall Mixed Method programme Design of the Present Study

Phase I Quantitative Paradigm

Assessment of achievement in Economics

Assessment of study skill

Phase II Qualitative Paradigm

Developing Semi structured Interview schedule

Assessment of perceived utility of study skills enhancement module.

ADDIE MODEL

DETAILED FLOW OF EVENTS THROUGHOUT THE INTERVENTION PROGRAMME

Data Analysis
DISCRIPTIVE STATISTICS FOR THE PRETEST ECONOMICS ACHIEVEMENT SCORES OF THE SAMPLE
Sample size (N) 24 Mean 12.08 Median 12 Mode 9 SD 3.23 Skewness 0.22 Kurtosis 0.12

Descriptive Statistics for the post-test Economics achievement scores of the sample
Sample (N)24 Mean 21.21 Median 21 Mode 21 SD 2.90 Skewness -0.55 Kurtosis 1.38

Descriptive Statistics for the pre-test Study skills scores of the sample
Sample size (N) 24 Mean 206.21 Median 208.5 Mode 217 SD 19.39 Skewness - 0.72 Kurtosis 1.19

Descriptive Statistics for the Post-test Study skills scores of the sample
Sample size (N) 24 Mean 233.08 Median 239.5 Mode 232 SD 25.55 Skewness -1 Kurtosis 1.20

Inferential Analysis
T test was performed to test the First hypothesis The obtained t for the pre test and post test achievement scores in Economics of low achievers was 9.93 which was higher than the tabulated t i.e. .2.81 at 0.01 level. This indicated that thet was significant for the pre test and post test achievement scores in Economics of low achievers at 0.01 level and hence the null hypothesis was rejected.

T test was performed to test the Second hypothesis The obtained t for the pre test and post test study skills scores in Economics of low achievers was8.87 which was higher than the tabulated t i.e. .2.81 at 0.01 level.
This indicated that thet was significant for the pre test and post test study skills scores in Economics of low achievers at 0.01 level and hence the null hypothesis was rejected.

Data Analysis
Qualitative analysis The qualitative phase of study was associated with the study of perceived utility of the study skills enhancement module according to the low achievers in Economics from Std 9. For this the following research question was formulatedRQ: What is according to low achievers from Std 9, perceived utility of study skills enhancement module for learning economics?

To answer this question the data was collected through semi structured interview schedule. The 24 participants were interviewed and obtained data was analysed, categorized and displayed CONCLUSION Interesting way of designing the activities, Helpful for exam preparation Provision of learning something new which was never done before, Scope of applying the new knowledge and skills in other situations hence more since of learning satisfaction.