Action Research for B.Ed students

 Action Research

Topic:-“Low Achievement of Student in Geography Subject with Special Reference to Class VIII student of XXXXX High School”, Tezpur.

1. 1.0 Introduction:

Action research is a research done to solve various classroom problems. It is done verify whether remedial measures applicable or not. It is a process of self-analysis. It is a well organized procedure of investigation carried out by and for the practitioners who take the action. The primary purpose of action research is to help the practitioner to improve or refine his practice or actions.

          Action research is variously known as participatory research, collaborative enquiry, action learning, contextual action research and the like. In simple terms, action research is a process of “learning by acting”. In an action research project, a group of practitioners identify a problem; make a plan and act on that plan to resolve it; examine how effective their action have been and if they are not satisfied with the result, repeat the cycle for a better solution. This is the basic approach of action research although there are other characteristics of action research that distinguish it from common problem solving activities as well as from fundamental research. However, unlike fundamental research, which primarily aims at testing the validity of existing theories and to develop new theories and generalizations, action research is focused on immediate application and on finding solutions to problems in specific and local context.

Research is a process of systematic inquiry that entails the collection of data; documentation of critical information; and analysis and interpretation of that data/information in accordance with suitable methodologies set by specific professional fields and academic disciplines. Research can be classified under three broad categories:

1.      Basic or Fundamental Research.

2.      Applied Research

3.      Action Research

1.1.1 Meaning of Action Research

The term “Action Research” was used  by Kurt Lewin in the year of 1946. Kurt Lewin is regarded as the founder of action research, But the term action research was introduced to the educational community by Stephen Corey in1949.Action Research is a type of research which is done practitioners in order to find out the immediate solution of a problem.

Action research is a process in which participants examine their own educational practice systematically and carefully, using the techniques of research. Action research specifically refers to a disciplined inquiry done by a teacher with the intent that the research will inform and change his or her practices in the future. Action research is process of changing student behavior in the classroom.

It helps teachers to understand the classroom dynamics and identity changes that may improve instruction and learning .Teachers learn to observe and reflect and determine a course of action that will resolve the problem.

 1.1.2 Conceptual Background of the study

Student often seen to have low interest in a particular subject in his/her school life. Subject like geography, history, economics, mathematics and English as a foreign language are few examples. It may be due to various reason as if they could not understand the importance of the subject in their life or teacher could not motivate them or method of teaching is does not sweet them.  In our context it is seen that the student of the class VIII in xxxx High School have shown poor performance in geography in both class test and mid-term examination which shows that they have loosen interest in geography. Our study tries to find the reason of their poor performance in geography and find remedial to improve their interest in the subject.

1.1.3 Rationale of the study

This study will help to prevent or decrease the low achievement of geography among the students. This study can help the teachers to reflect upon and analysis way of functioning they can try out innovation practice for their better performance, who work in the field of teaching geography to avoid poor achievement and to find solution to this problem. During internship period as geography teacher the researcher experienced that in class VIII some students were continuously showing poor performance in Geography and as teacher of geography the researcher wanted to know the root causes of their poor performance in his subject and after finding out of the problems of students he wanted take some necessary steps to remove these problems. That is why the researcher decided to take an action research on the low achievers of class VIII in geography and thus this study was conducted in this field.

  The result of the research work would undoubtedly enable the geography teachers to improve the teaching methods and effective use of teaching aids. It would emphasize the need for students to show more interest in the subjects.

            1.1.4 Objectives of the study:

The study will focus on the following objectives:-

·         To know the causes of low performance of students in geography in class VIII of xxxx High school.

·         To develop the strategy and techniques for improving the interest level of some students of class VIII.

·         To developed and suggest some remedial measures for the problem.

·         To make the students more active and serious in their study.

 

1.1.5 Action hypothesis

A hypothesis is a tentative prediction of the research .It is a very important aspect of research activity. A hypothesis is considered as the principal instrument in research. The action hypothesis assumed to improve or minimize the current research problem, with the help of different modern teaching method, using proper TLM, organizing discussions, by giving remedial measures and proper guide teacher can solve the poor achievement problem.

1.1.6 Scope and Limitation of the Study

·         This research mainly focus only on find the Reasons of low achievement of geography among the students of class VIII of xxx H.S school and gave appropriate remedy for it,  but not concerned about any other classes or schools

·         This research used only quasi experimental method and questionnaire for data collection.

·         This research used only student’s questionnaire and does not use others type of questionnaire like- questionnaire for teachers, Questionnaire for parents etc.

2.1 Method / Procedure

The selection of proper methods is very important for research work .Methods mean a way of doing something, especially in a systematic way. In the present study, quasi experimental method is used to collect data. Here data is collected by conducting pre-test and post-test using a question paper.

In this research, the researcher prepared a self-constructed questionnaire consisting of 10 questions. All the questions included are based on the age limit of the students. As planned previously, at first the researcher conducted the pre-test and found out the number of students whose achievement are very poor. The researcher chose them as a sample and distributed the questionnaire to them and discussed every question properly and asked them to fill it up. After the questionnaire was filled up by the students, the researcher collected them to find out the probable cause of the problem.

2.2 Population and Sample

The population of the study is all student of class VIII in xxxx High school, Assam. A researcher population is generally a large collection of individuals or objects that is the main focus of a scientific query. It is for the benefit of the population that researcher are done. However due to large sizes of population researcher often cannot test every individual in the population because it is too expensive and time consuming.

In the present Study, all the students of class VIII of xxxx High school will be constituted the population. Out of 62 students the researcher has been taken 10 students for research study as sample of this action research project .The sample of 10 students includes 4 boys and 6 girls.

2.3 Tools of data collection

To obtain the data, the teacher (researcher) conducted a test (pre-test) as the instrument of the research .In this written test the 62 students were given some questions to do. The answer sheets of the students were collected to facilitate the researcher in identifying correct answers done by the students. Among the62 students, only 10 students were chosen who were quite literally poor in geography .After post-test, the intervention was done, such as-

·         First, the questionnaire consists of 12 questions provided to the students assessing the student’s opinions about themselves.

·         The second was the observation method. With the help of observation, the researcher tried to identify the problem of the students during classroom interaction.

·         The third was an interview .The researcher takes interviews of the students individually which helps the researcher to know their problems in geography.

2.4 Procedure of data collection

The research was conducted after discussing the detailed plan with the subject teacher and taking permission from the concerned school. First a pre-test was conducted for the population of 62 students in class VIII out of which a sample of 10 were selected for research which was then followed by intervention and then a post-test was conducted for the sample.

For the present study, the data was collected by using a questionnaire. After selecting and finalizing the tools for data collection, the researcher visited the schools under investigation personally for taking prior permission from the Principal of the schools for collecting the necessary data.

After that, the investigator observed and arranged the classroom of the class VIII and distributed the questionnaire among the students and they were asked to fill up the questionnaire for collecting data.

2.5 Feedback:

Feedback is an important part of the education process. Students need to given a chance to see their progress prior to assessment in order to better their achievement. Feedback is a part of a report of action research generally includes Pre-test, Remedial Measurement and Post-Test. The differences of the Pre-Test and Post-Test indicate whether there is any problem in the teaching-learning process.

The Researcher may carry out the action research to identify the problems as well as take Remedial Measures based on the dimensions of the problems. For this, a well-organized and definite plan of operation with feedback is essential. So through the Pre-Test and Post-Test a sample can be made for the root cause of the problem. In this research, the following techniques are used for getting feedback –

1)      Pre- test

2)      Remedial measures

3)       Post- test

Activities done by the researcher are:-

Serial No.	Date	Activities
1.	05/03/2022	The researcher conducted the pre-test at Class VIII After analysis of the performance of the students in the pre-test, the sample size is ascertained.
2.	24/05/2022	The researcher distributed the questionnaire among the students chosen as sample. After duly filled in by the students, the researcher collected the questionnaire.
3.	After collecting data through questionnaire and analyzing the results of pre-test, some remedial measures are taken to solve the identified problems and to bring motivation among students.
4.	After few days later i.e. on 24/05/2022, a post test was conducted to see whether the problems faced by the students are minimized or not.

 

2.6 Pre test

A pre-test is very essential to carry out the action research the action research. The pre-test is conducted for knowing the achievement of the students. In this study, the researcher tries to find out the problems students legging behind in low achievement in geography. The pre-test on the geography of 20 marks was conducted by the researcher in class VIII.

Among the 62 students, only 10 students were chosen who were quite poor in geography.

Marks obtained by students in the Pre-test are as follows:-

Table-1: Performances of the students in Pre test

 

Student Code	Total Marks	Marks Obtain	Percentage	Remarks
S01	20	06	30%	PASSED
S02	20	07	35%	PASSED
S03	20	06	30%	PASSED
S04	20	08	40%	PASSED
S05	20	04	20%	FAILED
S06	20	09	45%	PASSED
S07	20	08	40%	PASSED
S08	20	10	50%	PASSED
S09	20	05	25%	FAILED
S10	20	04	20%	FAILED

 

 

 

Figure: 1 Column graph showing performances of the students in pre-test:

2.7 Remedial measure:

Remedial measures refer to the techniques which are adopted by the researcher to removes the difficulties of the students in the teaching –learning process .The researcher identifies those students who perform very poorly in the pre-test.

The researcher has taken some remedial measures to increase the interest level of the students in the class .The researcher distribute some questionnaires to the students to find out the various reasons for low achievement in geography. Extra care and guidance were provided to the students and extra classes were taken by the researcher to get the attention of the students.

Besides these the researcher adopts some other techniques to improve the interest level of the students:

1. Extra classes were taken in free periods.

2. Establishing a student friendly environment so that students can express their problems easily because students are too nervous in their geography classes

3. Using appropriate teaching aids.

4. Regular homework was assigned to the students.

5. Child-cantered teaching in the classroom.

2.8 Post Test

After giving suggestion and remedial measures, the researcher again conducted a post-test for those selected students who could not perform well in the pre-test. The purpose of this test is to find out the improvement of students in geography.

The result of the students in the post test are given below-

Table-2: Performances of the students in Post-test

Students Code	Total Marks	Marks Obtained	Percentage	Remarks
S01	20	09	45%	Improved
S02	20	11	55%	Improved
S03	20	07	35%	Improved
S04	20	11	55%	Improved
S05	20	08	40%	Improved
S06	20	07	50%	Improved
S07	20	09	45%	Improved
S08	20	14	70%	Improved
S09	20	10	50%	Improved
S10	20	09	45%	Improved

 

Figure: 2 Column graph showing performances of the students in the post-test:

 

Finding: The data collected by the researcher in pre-test and post-test were analyzed. The scores were compared to obtain the difference between the two tests. The data analysis of pre-test (table-1) and post-test (table-2) revealed that the students mostly improved.

 

 

ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION OF DATA

3.1 Analysis and interpretation of data

Here, the investigator analysis the collected data with the help of various statistical measures, data from primary source is analysis by using simple statistical techniques like Bar-diagram, pie-chart etc.After collection of data the researcher arranges to analysis it with the help of table study .The investigator adopted the questionnaire as a tool for collecting data. In this study a survey was conducted on uninterested students for collecting data among a sample of 10 students. The response of the students was interpreted in percentage for better understanding and is represented in pie charts and bar diagram to get the details at glance.

The following formula is used to calculate the percentage of response Percentage= (Number of responses /Total number of respondents) X 100

3.2 Analysis of Questionnaire

Based on student’s response on questionnaire I have prepared the following table for comparative analysis and interpretation of the data

Table-3.1: Students response on Questionnaire

Sl No	Item/Questions	No of students to response		No of percentage to response
		Yes	No	Yes	No
1	Are you present in school regularly?	4	6	40%	60%
2	Do you like geography?	3	7	30%	70%
3	Do you feel your geography teacher teaching interestingly?	4	6	40%	60%
4	Does your school organised field trip or excursion?	0	10	00%	100%
5	Does your geography teacher check your homework regularly?	2	8	20%	80%
6	Does your geography teacher give you homework regularly?	2	8	20%	80%
7	Does your teacher use innovative TLM while teaching geography subject?	1	9	10%	90%
8	Have you followed a specific time schedule for studying geography?	3	7	30%	70%
9	Do you find geography boring?	7	3	70%	30%
10	Do your parents help you in your study?	1	9	10%	90%
11	Do you need special class on geography?	6	4	60%	40%
12	Do you feel too difficult to understand geography?	7	3	70%	30%

 

            Figure-3.1: Students response in Percentage of whole Questionnaire

 

 

Figure-3.1.1: Students response in number of whole Questionnaire

 

Table-3.2: No. Of student who came to school regularly

Response	No. of students	Percentage
Yes	4	40%
No	6	60%
Total	10	100%

 

Figure: 3.2 Shown the percentages of the students who come to school regularly.

 

Interpretation: - : From the table above, it can be seen that causes of most of student’s performance is low in geography is irregular. 60% of them do not come to school regularly while 40% of them come to school regularly.

 

 

Table-3.3: No of student who like Geography

Response	No. of students	Percentage
Yes	3	30%
No	7	70%
Total	10	100%

 

Figure: 3.3 Shown percentages of the students who like geography.

Interpretation:- From the table above it can be seen that most of the student don’t like the geography. Only 30% of them like geography subject while 70% of them don’t like the geography subject

Table -3.4: No. Of student who think geography teacher teaching interestingly

Response	No. of students	Percentage
Yes	4	40%
No	6	60%
Total	10	100%

 

Figure-3.4:- Shown Percentages of students who think geography teacher teaching interestingly

Interpretation: - On the basis of table above it can be seen that teacher failed to motivate the student for geography subject. Only 40% of the student thinks that geography teacher motivated them while 60% were not.

Table -3.5: No. Of student who think school organized field trip or excursion.

Response	No. of students	Percentage
Yes	0	00%
No	10	100%
Total	10	100%

 

Figure-3.5: Shown percentage of the students who think school organized field trip or excursion.

Interpretation:- On the basis of table above it can be seen that school do not organize any field trip or excursion. It would be the reasons for their dislike of geography subject. 100% of the student response was that the school does not organize any field trip or excursion.

Table -3.6: No. Of student response on regularity of homework checking

Response	No. of students	Percentage
Yes	2	20%
No	8	80%
Total	10	100%

 

Figure-3.6: Shown percentage of the students response on regularity of homework checking

Interpretation:-On the basis of table above, it can be seen that teacher does no gave homework regularly and does not check their homework regularly as well.

Table-3.7:- No. of student response on use of TLM by the teacher

Response	No. of students	Percentage
Yes	1	10%
No	9	90%
Total	10	100%

 

Figure 3.7:- Shown percentage of student response on use of TLM by the teacher

Interpretation:- Based on the table above it can be seen that 90% of the students response regarding use of TLM by the teacher was no. It shows that most of the teacher does not use proper TLM in their class.

Table 3.8:- No. of students followed a specific time schedule for studying geography

Response	No. of students	Percentage
Yes	3	30%
No	7	70%
Total	10	100%

 

Figure 3.8:- Shown Percentage of student who followed a specific time schedule for studying geography

Interpretation:- Based on table above it can be seen that most of the student doesn’t followed specific time schedule for studying geography so they doesn’t  get sufficient time for revision.

Table3.9:- No. of students who find geography boring

Response	No. of students	Percentage
Yes	7	70%
No	3	30%
Total	10	100%

 

Figure 3.9:-Shown percentage of the students who find geography boring

Interpretation:- Based on the table above it can be seen that most of the student i.e. about 70% of the student find geography boring

Table 3.10:- No of student whose parents help his/her study

Response	No. of students	Percentage
Yes	1	10%
No	9	90%
Total	10	100%

 

Figure 3.10:-Percentage of student whose parents help his/her study

Interpretation:-Based on table above it can be seen that only 10% of the parents of the students help his/her students in study and 90% are not. It will be the reason for their low performance.

Table 3.11:-No. of students need special geography class

Response	No. of students	Percentage
Yes	6	60%
No	4	40%
Total	10	100%

 

Figure 3.11: - Shown percentage of students needs special geography class

Interpretation: Based on the table above it can be seen that most of the students around 60% of the students need special geography class. Regular classes are not sufficient for them.

Table 3.12:- No of student who feel too difficult to understand geography

Response	No. of students	Percentage
Yes	7	70%
No	3	30%
Total	10	100%

 

Figure 3.12:- Percentage of student who feels too difficult to understand geography

Interpretation:- Based on the table above it can be seen that most of the students, around 70% of the students feel too difficult to understand geography, so their some concept may not be cleared in regular classes and it will be a reason for their low performance in geography.

 

3.3. Pre-Test and Post-Test Data Analysis

Based on data of pre-test and post-test, investigator have prepare the following table for comparative analysis and interpretation of the data

Table 3.14: Students performance in pre-test and post-test

Sl. No	Student Code	Percentage of marks obtained in pre-test	Percentage of marks obtained in post-test	Remarks
1	S01	30%	45%	Improved
2	S02	35%	55%	Improved
3	S03	30%	35%	Improved
4	S04	40%	55%	Improved
5	S05	20%	40%	Improved
6	S06	45%	50%	Improved
7	S07	40%	45%	Improved
8	S08	50%	70%	Improved
9	S09	25%	50%	Improved
10	S10	20%	45%	Improved

 

Figure 3.14:- Column graph showing students performance in pre-test and post-test

Interpretation:- Based on the table above it can be seen that all of the students i.e. 100% of the students in post-test improved their performance  and scored good marks than that of pre-test

3.4 Finding of the studies

After analysis of the pre-test and post-test result the researcher got some findings about interest of students in learning geography. Those are given below:-

·         From the study it is clearly understood that majority of the students have irregular attendance in class.

·         From the study it can be seen that majority of students are not motivated by their Geography teacher

·         From the survey done it is clear that the school rarely conducts the field trip or excursion. It is important to conduct such activities as in will make the student become more interested in the subject.

·         It has been observed that most of the time students become inattentive in class due to a lack of proper TLM used by the teacher while teaching geography.

·         It has been observed that proper use of TLM can be helpful in motivating and improving student’s achievement in learning geography.

·         It has been observed that using innovative method, strategies, and techniques of teaching by the teacher while teaching that develops student’s attention as well as interest in learning.

·         The causes of the weak performance of students were assessed under the following; content. The level of fieldwork/practical exercises in geography lessons, and the availability of teaching learning materials in the schools. Others include the quality and the availability of Geography teachers, the methodology used by teachers, their commitment level to teaching-learning of Geography as well as other internal conditions of students that may impact on teaching - learning and performance.

·         Causes of the weak performance of students include the problem of lack of well-stocked geography resource rooms in the schools. Important teaching resources such as assorted map extracts, audiovisuals, globes, digital camera, computer, CDs of various geographical features, and survey instruments: prismatic compass, chain, tape measure, arrow, ranging poles, Global Position System (GPS) among others) were in paucity supply. Lack of geography resources rooms does not ensure the long span of the instructional materials. The absence of the resource rooms also does not facilitate the opportunity for students to manipulate teaching and learning materials at their leisure time for better appreciation and understanding. The paucity of resources also explains the low level of practical or fieldwork activity in Geography lessons.

·         Through sufficient time allocation to fieldwork or practical activity, the performance of students in Geography will be enhanced.

SUGGESTION AND RECOMMENDATION

4.1 Suggestion and recommendation

With reference to the above findings, the following recommendations were made to the stakeholder as the way to enhance students' performance in Geography

·         Teaching methods should improve by the teachers so that the student feels interested to attain class.

·         Teacher should make the subject matter interesting for the students by using different methods, techniques and strategies during the instruction period.

·         The teacher should use various audio-visual aids during instruction to motivate the students to pay attention.

·         The teacher should understand the psychological and physical needs and interest of student to pay attention in the class.

·         The teacher should give example during teaching because, example help the student to understand a hard complicated and tough in an easy manner.

·         The teacher should use some modern technology like a projector which is very much useful to increase the interest of students in learning geography.

·         Guidance on punctuality and regularity of each student is taken care of by teachers.

·         To improve students' performance in Practical aspect of Geography there is the need to revamp practical activity. Land survey, map work and research must be emphasized for a student to develop the necessary skills and interest. Also, field trips to important geographical sites will also help to arouse students' interest in Practical Geography to be specific and Geography in general.

·         Quantity and the quality of geography teachers should be enhanced by encouraging the nonprofessional teachers to upgrade themselves. In-service training for teachers should be organized regularly to refresh teachers' knowledge of modern teaching methods.

·         Teachers should be well-motivated so as to fully dedicate their time to regular classroom teaching in school. The heads of schools should also regulate the incidence of extra classes that go on in the school premises.

·         Effective school-community collaboration should be promoted to enhance culturally responsive school practices and relevant learning outcomes.

·         Teacher should ensure in involvement of the students in their geography subject, make the class interactive and enjoyable

·         Regular homework should be given and notebooks should be checked.

4.2 Utility of the study

1.      This study will help to prevent or decrease the low achievement of geography among the students.

2.      This study can also help the teachers to reflect upon and analysis way of functioning they can try out innovation practice for their better performance, who work in the field of teaching geography to avoid poor achievement and to find solution to this problem.

3.      This study is important not only for students but also teacher in this concern field.

4.      This study will help to bring out many reforms and correction in teaching learning process.

5.      This study will help the teacher investigator to change his/her way of teaching.

6.      This study will assist students in growing interest towards the subject.

7.      This study will help in detecting the problem child in the sample under study.

4.3 Scope for further research

Scope for further research is essential in every academic study. With the help of this study a researcher can find out the influence of different factors in performance of a student not only in geography but also in different subject of the curriculum. In this study it was observed that some factors like-irregularity, inattention, lack of interest, lack of proper use of recourses or TLM, insufficient time allocation to fieldwork or practical activity are the root causes of the poor performance of the students. Through deep investigation or research, a researcher can tried to find the interior causes behind the above mentioned. Such that teacher can gave accurate remedy for it.

CHAPTER 5

SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION

5.1Conclusion:

Geography is an important subject for the student. So, that the teacher can help children learn by offering them interesting techniques and methods of teaching. It is also note that a range of activities can ensure learners in involvement in their geography subject, make the class interactive and enjoyable .At the same time, we also need to take initiative of slow learners and irregular students in geography acquisition.

The investigator went through the conceptual background of the study, method used in the study, description of the population and sample, tools and procedures of data collection and statistical representation, finding of the study, utility of the study as well as suggestions and recommendation in the study.

In the chapter 1 the investigator formed an objective and action hypothesis, in the present study investigator used quasi experiment method. 10 samples were selected from class VIII out of 62 students. The questionnaire developed the investigator by him.

In the chapter 2 the investigator conducted a pre-test for assessing the ability and performance in Geography. After the pre test the investigator provided remedial measures to raise the level of student achievement to a certain level. After that the investigator again conducted a post test to investigate actual outcome and understanding of the pupils after so much continuous measures.

In chapter 3 the investigator edited, classified and tabulated the data. For this purpose the investigator used simple percentage, bar diagram, pie diagram and table for analysis and interpretation of data.

In chapter 4 investigator has gave some recommendation and suggestion to solve the problem, to eliminate the problem to provided accurate remedial measure and also mention the utility of the study and scope for further researches.

The conclusion drawn from this study is that given a strong commitment level of teachers and students to the teaching and learning process, and coupled with the use of right methodologies and resources or TLM; and sufficient time allocation to fieldwork or practical activity, the performance of students in Geography will be enhanced. The study argues for effective collaboration among the school, the communities and to seek for relevant interventions and practices to maximize better and fair learning experiences and excellent learning outcomes for all students.

References