Comparison of traditional and constructivist teaching approaches in improving students' academic achievement and self-concept (Grade eleven students of Bahir Dar preparatory school)

The purpose of this study was to compare traditional and constructivist teaching approaches in improving grade eleven students’ academic achievement and self-concept at Bahir Dar Preparatory School. Two out of 20 grade eleven sections were selected using simple random sampling. The first section was taught using traditional teaching approach while the second group was taught using constructivist teaching approach. Teacher-made test and self-concept inventory questionnaire (adapted from a Rasch Analysis of the Academic Self-Concept Questionnaire) were used. The two data collection instruments were employed before and after students were taught using the two different teaching approaches. The actual classroom teacher was assigned to teach for 9 weeks (40 Periods) after he had been given considerable training on both types of teaching approaches. Paired Samples and Independent Samples t-tests were employed for analyses. The results revealed that the academic achievements of both traditional and constructivist groups students have shown significant changes in the post-test results compared with their pre-test results. However, post-test results of the constructivist group were significantly higher than the results of the traditional; group. Similar results were obtained in the self-concept test, except in one of the components of self-concept (acquisition of knowledge) which both groups exhibit significant changes. From the results of this study, it is possible to conclude that the constructivist approach is a more effective method of teaching than the traditional teaching approach in improving students’ academic achievement and changing their self-concept.