Effective Teaching of form Four History at Zimbabwe’s Dakamela Secondary School: A Comparative Study of Group Discussion and Lecture Methods

Abstract

This study was focused on the comparative effectiveness of using the group discussion method and the lecture method in the teaching and learning of history by form four students at Dakamela Secondary School in Nkayi District with the aim of finding which of the two methods better suits the teaching of this subject due to its strengths. The study used 50 students in two classes one with 26 and the other with 24 students. The population was made up of all 320 pupils in the school doing history since the subject is compulsory and is expected to be done by al the pupils. The study employed the quantitative paradigm and used the experimental design. Experiments were carried out in both classes which were exposed to both methods simultaneously. The study revealed that students who were exposed to the group discussion method performed relatively better than those exposed to the lecture method. The study recommends that students should be taught mostly using the group discussion method since it has proved to be more effective than the lecture method.