The effect of active learning method on students' academic success, motivation and attitude towards mathematics

Abstract

One of the purposes of education and active learning is to promote a more engaging classroom that is both interactive and productive for the students. This study seeks to look at this purpose in a very holistic way by combining academic achievement, students’ attitudes, and motivation in determining how much active learning has impacted the education process. By incorporating the Mathematics Achievement Test, the attitudes test, the motivation survey, and finally a more statistically reliable MANOVA test, this study seeks to find out the effect of active learning in classrooms. 10th-grade students from Nurorda school in Nur-Sultan Kazakhstan took part in the research and were divided into two groups, the experimental and the control group. The students were initially informed about the study and a pre-test was administered to both groups; the control group was taught using the normal lecture-based method while the experimental group was taught using active learning educational platforms. The study was then conducted for a period of 6 weeks, quizzes were being administered through a whiteboard and multiple-choice questions and a final test given to students. After the study period ended, a post-test was the administered to both groups and the results of the tests gathered for analysis using the MANOVA technique to test for significant difference between the two methods being tested. The study suggests that students in the experimental group from the active learning class had a more productive education process in terms of achievement, however, there was no significant difference found in attitudes or motivation between them and the control group.