Determinants of learning outcomes of IX graders in social science a study

Abstract

Present study identifies determinants of learning outcomes in social science for IX graders. Learning outcomes (achievement + value outcomes) was studied as dependent variable. Independent variables included teacher characteristics i.e., attitude towards social science and teaching perspective, student characteristics i.e., gender, locale, self-efficacy, achievement motivation and study habits and classroom environment. Achievement test, teacher attitude towards social science and interview protocols were developed by the researcher. This study used sequential explanatory mixed methods design, consisting of two distinct phases (Quantitative and qualitative). For achievement; gender, locale, self-efficacy and study habits were statistically significant. The two-way interaction was found between locale and achievement motivation and three-way interaction was found between gender, locale and study habits only. For value outcomes, only locale was statistically significant. For teachers, only teacher s attitude towards social science was significant for achievement. For students, self-efficacy and locale were the strongest predictors of achievement following study habit and gender. No regression analysis was done for value outcomes due to no significant correlation. For teachers, transmission perspective, teacher attitude towards social science and developmental perspective were the strongest predictors of achievement. Social reform perspective and teacher attitude towards social science were the strongest predictors of value outcome. The qualitative analysis resulted into four themes personal, family, school and resources. The quantitative and qualitative data were mixed to have holistic understanding of the results. It was found that self-efficacy of the students should be improved in terms of understanding of social science, writing subjective questions as well as map work by timely and fair feedback after regular testing of students. It will boost the confidence and motivation of the students.