The impact of teaching science with context-based approach on the 7th grade student's academic achievement

The aim of this study has been to evaluate the impact of teaching science with context-based approach on the achievement of seventh grade students in Baharestan city. It was a quasi-experimental study with pretest - posttest design. The research population consisted of secondary school 7th grade male students studying in the first semester of Baharestan city in 1392. The sample consisted of 67 7th grade male students who were selected based on access sampling method. They were divided into two groups of control (34 students) and experimental (33 students). Measurement tools used in the study included IQ test and achievement test (knowledge, skills and attitudes) based on 7th grade science course materials. At first, the achievement test was administered in both the experimental and control groups. Then, the experimental variable (context-based instruction) was trained to the experimental group for 12 sessions and finally the post-test was distributed in both groups. To analyze the data, descriptive statistics (mean, standard deviation) and inferential statistics (covariance) was used. The results showed that the experimental group who were trained with context-based approach has more achievement than control group who were trained with traditional approach. Also, there was a significant difference between the mean score of the two groups. Findings showed that teaching science with context-based approach had positive impact on attitudes, knowledge and skills of students.