Classroom Interaction Practices and Students’ Learning Outcomes in Physics: Implication for Teaching-Skill Development for Physics Teachers

In the last decade, evidence in the science education literature seems to suggest that student-centered classroom interaction appears to have effect over and above teacher-centered interaction in enhancing learning outcomes in various science subjects especially in Physics. Based on this premise, this paper examined the effects of teacher-centered and student-centered interaction practices on students’ achievement and attitude in dynamics, an aspect of Physics considered abstract at the secondary school level. This study employed both the quasi-experimental and observational survey designs. From a sample of four comparable schools in Kogi East Local Government Areas of Kogi State, Nigeria, 139 physics students from intact classes and seven teachers (4 who did the teaching and 3 others who observed in all classes) were involved in the study. Three instruments developed were used for data collection. These are Teacher-Student Classroom Observation Schedule (TSCOS), Students’ Attitude Questionnaire (SAQ), and Physics Achievement Test (PAT) with reliability indices of 0.68, 0.86 and 0.79 respectively. The data generated from the use of the instruments were analyzed using descriptive statistics of mean and standard deviation to answer the research questions, while the ANCOVA statistic was used to test the hypotheses at 0.05 α-level. Results revealed that the difference between the mean performances and mean attitude of students exposed to the two types of interactions were statistically significant. Gender differences in mean performance and attitude scores were not significant. It was recommended that student-centered classroom interaction strategy should be advocated for use. Implications were drawn for teacher skills acquisition.