ABSTRACT
The purpose of study was to investigate the effect of 5E learning cycle instruction on Grade 12 students’ learning achievement in genetics and their opinion towards the 5E learning cycle as part of their integrated STEM learning experience. A convergent mixed-method approach was adopted to investigate students’ test scores and opinions of the 5E learning cycle. Sixty-one students and three Biology teachers from three higher secondary schools in eastern Bhutan participated in the study. The classes were assigned as experimental and control groups based on pre-test scores. Gene Expression Learning Achievement Test, a Student Opinion Questionnaire, and classroom observation checklist were administered before and after the lessons. Quantitative data from the classroom observation checklist list and questionnaire were analysed using descriptive statistical methods including means and standard deviation. The qualitative data from open-ended questions were coded, categorized, and thematised to develop pattern. The findings of the study indicated that the learning achievement scores of the experimental group were significantly higher compared to the control group. The result of the independent sample test was statistically significant, where P < 0.05 with a mean increase of 5.64 with a confident interval of 95% for the difference between the means of 14.74 and 9.10 (out of 20). The Student Opinion Questionnaire showed an increase in the level of interest, understanding, satisfaction, and their views that the topic is less difficult to learn.
