Effect of Experiential Learning on Students' Academic Achievement at Elementary Level in the Subject of General Science

The present study was designed to explore the effect of experiential learning on students' academic achievement at elementary level in the subject of General Science. The study main objectives were to (i) find the effect of experiential learning method on students' academic achievement in the subject of General Science, (ii) to compare high achievers of experimental and control groups in General Science using experiential learning, and (iii) to compare low achievers of experimental and control groups in General Science using experiential learning. All the students of 5th grade in elementary schools were the population of the study. The students in the 5th grade of WAPDA Senior Model School Tarbela Dam Project were randomly selected as the study's sample. The research was experimental. The Equivalent Group Design with Pre-test and Post-test was employed. On the basis of researcher-made, pre-test the sample was divided into experimental and control group. Both groups were given the same training, but their learning styles were very different. For the experimental group, an experiential learning method was used for a six-week period. As data collection tool, the researcher planned pre-test, post-test, and observation sheets. The collected data was analyzed with the help of percentage, mean, median, standard deviation, t-test and ANOVA. Data analysis demonstrated that students in the experimental group perform much better in post-test than students in the control group. Experiential learning was found to be useful in the teaching of science in primary school. In the post-test, there was a significant difference in academic achievement between the experimental and control group. Experiential learning method was more effective than the traditional methods of teaching. It is therefore recommended that the experience learning method should be applied for all students to increase the academic achievement of the students. Teachers should be encouraged to apply the experiential learning approach. The curriculum should also be revised. The study will be beneficial for students, teachers, curriculum developer and policy makers