Discovery Puzzle-Based Learning and Students’ Retention of Sentence Structures and Technical Writing Skills Among Senior Secondary School Students in Port Harcourt City LGA
Keywords:
Discovery Puzzle-Based Learning, Sentence Structure, Technical Writing, Retention, English LanguageAbstract
This study examined the effect of Discovery Puzzle-Based Learning on Senior Secondary School students’ retention of sentence structures and technical writing skills in Rivers State, Nigeria. Two research questions and two null hypotheses guided the study. A pretest-posttest-delayed posttest control-group quasi-experimental design was adopted. The population comprised 30,528 SS II students, while a sample of 98 students was selected from two public secondary schools in Port Harcourt City Local Government Area using a multistage sampling procedure. The experimental group comprised 47 students taught using Discovery Puzzle-Based Learning, while 51 students in the control group were taught using the conventional teaching method. Data were collected using the Sentence Structure Assessment Test (SSAT) and Technical Writing Assessment Test (TWAT), each comprising 25 multiple-choice items. The instruments were validated by experts in language education, linguistics, and measurement and evaluation. Reliability coefficients of 0.87 and 0.79 were obtained for the SSAT and TWAT, respectively, using the Kuder-Richardson 20. Data were analysed using the mean and standard deviation to answer the research questions and analysis of covariance to test the hypotheses at the 0.05 level of significance. The findings showed that students taught using Discovery Puzzle-Based Learning recorded a higher mean gain in sentence structure retention (17.00) than those taught using the conventional method (9.02). Similarly, the Discovery Puzzle-Based Learning group recorded a higher mean gain in technical writing retention (20.91) than the conventional group (8.02). The ANCOVA results revealed a significant effect of instructional method on sentence structure retention, F (1, 95) = 50.955, p < .001, partial η² = .349, and technical writing retention, F(1, 95) = 77.229, p < .001, partial η² = .448. Both effect sizes were large, indicating substantial effects of the instructional method. The study concluded that Discovery Puzzle-Based Learning is more effective than the conventional teaching method in promoting students’ retention of sentence structures and technical writing skills. It was recommended that English Language teachers incorporate puzzle-based activities involving sentence reconstruction, error identification, language manipulation, and authentic technical writing tasks into classroom instruction.
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