Abstract
The objective of this study was to investigate whether the class scheduling of Nature and Biology classes in blocks results in better learning success for primary school students, and whether this depends on the average student success rate (i.e., student performance categories), age, or prior knowledge. For this study, we have assumed that block scheduling results in better success rates for older lower-performing primary-school students. The research included 773 fifth- to eighth-grade students from 14 Croatian primary schools. The students fell into two groups: one group attending 45-min Nature and Biology lessons twice a week (single-scheduled classes), and another group attending a 90-min lesson once a week (block-scheduled class). To assess the level of student learning success, all students underwent both an initial and final written exam in Nature and/or Biology, specific to each grade. The rmANOVA proved that there was a significant interaction among class scheduling, performance categories, and the initial and final written exam scores of fifth- and seventh-grade students. Such a correlation was not found among the sixth- and eighth-grade students. Our findings further indicate that students achieve better results in block-scheduled classes at the end of primary school education, and that block class scheduling does not necessarily result in improved student achievement, particularly in lower-performing students.
Highlights
Successful and effective teaching and learning depend on the detailed student-centered planning of teaching [1,2]
The objective of this study was to investigate whether the class scheduling of Nature and Biology classes in blocks results in better learning success for primary school students, and whether this depends on the average student success rate, age, or prior knowledge
The results further indicated that block-scheduled Biology teaching generally does not have a significant effect on the success of good and excellent high-school students, because they are successful regardless of the scheduling, whereas it could impair the success of low-performing high-school students
Summary
Successful and effective teaching and learning depend on the detailed student-centered planning (micro-planning) of teaching [1,2]. The block-scheduled class allows for a wider range of teaching strategies and methods that require active and independent student engagement, such as collaborative, exploratory and/or research-based learning [3,4,5,6]. These active learning approaches are strongly represented in STEM subjects that include the observation of natural phenomena and processes, and the application of practical work, experiments and/or demonstrations, which are often difficult to implement within a single class. Science, Nature and Biology teachers often tend to organize block-scheduled classes, following the recommendations for effective teaching in the field of natural sciences [7,8,9]
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