Assessing the Effectiveness of Interaction Approach in Learning about Rivers among Grade IX Students in Geography

Abstract

This study investigated the effectiveness of the interaction approach (IA) in learning about rivers among the ninth grade students of a middle secondary school in western Bhutan. The study adopted the mixed-method explanatory sequential design. The quantitative data were gathered through a quasi-experiment, involving pre-test and post-test on Geography achievement tests (GAT) for both the control and experimental groups (EG) and survey questionnaires were administered to gather the perception of students from the EG. Additionally, structured interviews were employed to gather qualitative data from an equal representation of genders within the EG. The GAT scores consisted of two sections viz. the CG (N = 34) and the EG (N = 34). In this study, a targeted sample selection was made with a sample size of 68 students. The analysis of the independent t-test to compare between CG and EG showed a statistically significant difference (P < .001) in post-test for both CG and EG. Similarly, a paired-sample t-test was conducted for comparative analysis. There was a statistically significant difference (P < .001) between the pre-test and post-test results of the CG (P = 0.05) in the students’ learning achievements with the post-test. Likewise, the EG shows a statistically significant difference (P < .001) between the test scores in the pre-test and post-test. The results of the study confirmed that using the IA improved students’ GAT scores compared to the conventional teaching method. The descriptive analysis of the study also indicated that students have positive perceptions towards the use of IA in learning of river in Geography.  In addition, the study also revealed higher perceptions of the themes of self-confidence, motivation and collaboration when using IA, which was further supported by student respondents’ positive perceptions of the benefits of IA. However, when using IA, the large class size pose a challenge as perceived by students. In conclusion, this study recommends Geography teachers to use IA as an intervention approach to stimulate students to learn about rivers effectively. These predictors, however, need further work to validate its reliability.