CONTEMPORARY EDUCATIONAL TECHNOLOGY, 2011, 2(3), 213-237

The Effects of Information and Communication Technology Based

Approach and Laboratory Training Model of Teaching on
Achievement and Retention in Chemistry

Alireza Badeleh
Islamic Azad University, Sari Branch, Iran

G. Sheela
University of Mysore, India

Abstract
The purpose of the present study was to investigate the effectiveness of the Information and
Communication Technology (ICT) based approach and the Laboratory Training Model of
Teaching (LTM) chemistry. It strived to determine whether the ICT or the LTM would be more
effective with respect to the male and female students’ overall as well as component-based
achievement in chemistry and their retention of learning. The sample of the study consisted of
120 seventh standard students from two English-medium elementary schools in Mysore city,
India. Four homogenous groups were formed randomly for the study and the effects of
independent variables were tested under experimental conditions. The Test of Higher Mental
Ability in Science (THMAS) was used to determine the homogeneity of the participants. After
one month, the delayed posttest for achievement in chemistry was administered to determine
the retention level of the students. The statistical techniques used to analyze the data were
the independent sample t-test and two-way analysis of variance (ANOVA). The findings
indicated that as far as the overall achievement in chemistry, component-based achievement,
and retention of knowledge, comprehension, application, and skills are concerned, the ICT-
based method of teaching chemistry was more effective than the LTM of teaching. The effects
of gender varied according to comparisons.

Keywords: Information and communication technology; Laboratory training model of

teaching; Achievement in chemistry; Retention of learning

Introduction

In the traditional learning environment, it is the teacher who transfers knowledge to the learner
through the medium of printed materials, particularly textbooks. There is not much technology
usage, and the practice of asking students to collaborate is often lacking. However, the truly
Information and Communication Technology (ICT) based learning is a form of education that
occurs through the multimedia in class environment; it does not consist of any physical learning
materials issued to students or actual face-to-face contact. This type of learning environment has
been claimed to promote opportunities for collaborative learning, explorative learning or engaged

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learning. For example, students will be able to go on an information journey around the world to
search for and collect information. In addition to gaining access to databases, networking will
enable the students to engage in communications and collaborations with other students,
teachers, and people everywhere (Ya’acob, Mohd Nor, & Azman, 2005).

ICT-based learning brought about an increased tendency toward collaborative learning among
students and teachers, not only in a particular classroom. This type of interaction is in contrast to
the traditional learning environment. The rapid growth of ICT has led to ‘revolutions in learning’ as
each new technological innovation in education has entailed the reinvention of the wheel and the
application of new methods/instruments in teaching-learning practices. ICT is a means of storing,
processing, and presenting information electronically through a number of media. Computers and
microelectronic devices are built into a wide variety of everyday objects. However, the types of
technologies incorporated in the educational context tend to focus around the delivery of content
and information to support formal learning processes. ICTs, which include radio and television, as
well as newer digital technologies such as computers and the Internet-, have been touted as
potentially powerful enabling tools for educational change and reform (Tinio, 2003).

ICT approach is a modern method that is used in schools and it can and will empower teachers and
learners, transforming teaching and learning processes from being highly teacher-dominated to
student-centered. This transformation will result in increased learning gains for students, creating
and allowing for opportunities for learners to develop their creativity, problem-solving abilities,
informational reasoning skills, communication skills, and other higher-order thinking skills. During
the last several decades the availability of increasingly sophisticated software has grown steadily.
Throughout the world personal computers and the internet have become a part of childhood and
adolescence. The rapid developments in hardware technology have led to enhanced software
opportunities. A similar development took place in educational software since the dominance of
hypertext systems changed to a predominance of hypermedia systems in the last decade. These
hypermedia learning environments usually contain a broad band width of media including text,
graphics, animations, simulations, video, narration, and sound (Lemke, 1999).

Today computers in schools are both a focus of study (technology education) and a support for
learning and teaching (educational technology). Rationales can be presented for both computer
literacy and using computers as a modern part of educational technology. However, the types of
technologies incorporated in the educational context tend to focus around the delivery of content
and information to support formal learning processes. Schools are using ICT to enhance and add a
new dimension to the learning and retention process, and also to increase communication
between the home and school (Blaylock, 2005). Today, ICT that helps teach or encourage
interaction can be presented on computers in the form of either text or in multimedia
formats, including Macromedia Flash, Camtasia, Internet, PowerPoint, MS Word, photographs,
videos, animation, and music. The guided drill is a microcomputer program that poses
questions to students, returns immediate feedback, and selects additional questions based
on the student’s responses. Recent guided drill systems incorporate the basic principles of
education in addition to subject matter knowledge into the computer program. ICT also can
help students visualize objects that are difficult or impossible to view. One of the major
advantages of ICT in the early years according to the IT learning exchange is that there is a growing

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increase of evidence to suggest that the relationship between ICT in schools and pupil attainment
is increasing.

Advantage for introducing ICT in the early years is that it prepares the young children for living in a
society that is permeated with technology. The new ICTs are intimately bound up in these aspects
of human activity, so they clearly significant in children’s learning and retention (Hayes &
Whitebread, 2006). According to Twinning (2002), computer work increases productivity and
strongly suggests that there is a positive relationship between schools with good ICT resources and
high standards of achievement. Poulter and Basford (2003) stated that ICT is a teaching tool. Its
potential for improving the quality and standards of pupils’ education is significant. One more
benefit of ICT in schools is that pupils who do not have access at their homes get the chance to use
them in school, therefore giving all the children an equal opportunity. It can be used as a learning
tool in education to enrich the pupils learning and retention. It eases the material usage in
education, perception, learning, and retention. It inspires and brings dynamism to the classroom.
It shortens the time in learning, compacts knowledge and helps permanence. It provides the
students to participate in the subject while arousing reading and searching interest. It carries the
cases, actualities, and facts which are impossible to bring them in the class with their real faces
(Aslan & Dogdu, 1993).

Laboratory Training Model of teaching (LTM) is a method that generally focuses on the first hand
information which comes from research and laboratory. In this method nothing is directly taught
but the learning situation and condition are provided in a way that the learners themselves find
the solution to the problem. In other words, LTM is an activity in which the learner practically
experiences a specific concept with specific materials and equipment (Shabani, 2002).

It is hard to imagine learning to do science, or learning about science, without doing laboratory or
field work. Experimentation underlies all scientific knowledge and understanding. Laboratories are
wonderful settings for teaching and learning science. They provide students with opportunities to
think about, discuss, and solve real problems. Developing and teaching an effective laboratory
requires as much skill, creativity, and hard work as proposing and executing a first-rate research
project. Typically, students work their way through a list of step-by-step instructions, trying to
reproduce expected results and wondering how to get the right answer. While this approach has
little done with science, it is common practice because it is efficient. LTM varies widely but there is
certainly no substitute for an instructor circulating among the students, answering and asking
questions, pointing out subtle details or possible applications, and generally guiding students'
learning. Although students work informally in pairs or groups in many labs, some faculty has
formally introduced cooperative learning into their labs. Some instructors rely on a lab hand-out,
not to give cookbook instructions but to pose a carefully constructed sequence of questions to
help students design experiments which illustrate important concepts (Hake, 1992).

One advantage of the well-designed hand-out is that the designer more closely controls what
students do in the lab (Moog & Farrell, 1996). The challenge is to design it so that students must
think and be creative. In more unstructured LTM the challenge is to prevent students from getting
stranded and discouraged. The purpose of the LTM is to help materialize the characteristics of
events, materials, analysis, synthesis, evaluation, and recreating the materials and events and also
the relationship between them. A laboratory is a suitable place in which the materials are learned

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through discovery learning and problem solving. This method can be mixed with other methods
like group learning, discovery learning and so on.

Laboratory learning can increase the quality of learning and is an incentive in a learning activity.
This method is very much suitable for satisfying the sense of inquisitiveness, improving the power
of exploring, raising learners’ critical thinking, building self-confidence and also self-satisfaction.
Laboratory activities help to solve problem. In LTM learner faces with some problems tries to solve
those problems by using available facilities to find the solution. In a laboratory learner gets an
opportunity for experimentation and for logical thinking. Their participation in group discussion
also contributes to their social growth during the process of experiment. Many concepts, rules,
and principles of chemistry could be effectively taught by conducting experiments. Research in
teaching through LTM in order to improve the process of teaching and learning is a necessity. It
makes the educational process into a learner-centered one and gives the pupil the joy of discovery
and thus motivates him/her for further learning. Together with the science education, besides
bringing information to the students, supporting the development of their scientific thinking skills
and submitting solutions to the daily problems are planned (Kaptan, 1999). Therefore, during an
experiment, dynamism is seen in the classroom.

LTM provides the activeness of the student carries great value in terms of education. The most
valid learning methods are learning by living and performing, preparing experiments, and
investigating (Ivgen, 1997). Today in which science and technology are developing with a rattling
rate, science education is performed with different techniques and methods. Inside these
methods, one of the most efficient ones is the LTM method (Lawson, 1995). Laboratory provides
the students to participate in the activities related with science and to learn the scientific method.
Laboratory for students is a place where new information is developed by sighting, developing
ideas, and interpreting the data (Adey, Shayer, & Yates, 1995).

Methodology

This study was an experimental research which was performed in order to find out the effects of
the treatments on the dependent variables. The relationship between the independent variables
(ICT and LTM), dependant variables (achievement and retention on knowledge, comprehension,
application, and skills) and the moderating variable (Gender) were examined by conducting the
treatments in the two experimental groups.

The Sample

The sample of the study consisted of 120 seventh standard students from two English-medium
elementary schools in Mysore city, India. From each school, 60 students attended the study, 30
from two participating classes per each school. Of the total number, 62 students were male and 58
students were female. Students were equally and randomly assigned to the treatment groups and
their homogeneity was checked before the experiment.

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The sample has been selected in two stages. First the participating schools were selected and then
the classes were allotted to different groups. The sampling technique adopted for choosing the
schools in this study was purposive sampling because the researcher selected the schools from
Mysore city based on their availability and willingness to cooperate. This is because teaching
chemistry in 21 sessions for each class would have been practically impossible in other cities of the
state where the researcher had no close contacts.

Because the number of seventh standard classes was more than two classes in each school, the
researcher used the lottery method to select the classes for different experimental methods. In
this method, the names of seven standard classes in each school were written in small papers and
among them one class for ICT and one class for LTM were selected.

Table 1. The Number of Male and Female Students in Experimental and Control Groups

Groups SCHOOL A SCHOOL B

ICT LTM ICT LTM
Gender
Male 15 15 16 16
Female 15 15 14 14
Total 30 30 30 30

Homogenizing the Groups

Since the students selected for the treatments were from different schools, the researcher had to
make sure that they would have the same abilities before the treatment. In order to obtain
parallel groups for the experimental conditions, the researcher administered the Test of Higher
Mental Ability in Science for homogenizing the groups. Table 2 shows the results of homogenizing
test for two schools.

Table2. Details Regarding the Homogeneity of the Groups

t-test Equality of Means

Std.
N Mean Sig. (2-
Deviation df Sig.
tailed)
Group 1 60 11.7667 2.58366
.867 118 0.05
Group 2 60 11.7111 1.79415

The result of this test, as shown in Table 2, showed that the p-value of .867 was larger than .05
which meant that the null hypothesis assuming no difference between the means of the students
from the two schools was confirmed. Thus, it was concluded that the students in the two schools
were homogenous with respect to Higher Mental Ability in science.

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Experimental Procedures

After selecting the samples and homogenizing the groups, the conditions were ready to perform
the experiment. The instructional software for ICT-based teaching was prepared by using
Macromedia Builder software, Flash, Camtasia software, Microsoft Office and using movies, texts,
animation and images.

In order to find out the justifiability of the developed instructional software, it was tried out in one
class with the presence of several experts and teachers. The suggestions given by the experts and
teachers were incorporated and improvements were made in the instructional software. In the
same way, the contents of the related experiments were designed by adopting Laboratory Training
Model by the researcher and were tried out in a class with the presence of experts and teachers.
Their suggestions were incorporated and necessary modifications were made while adopting
Laboratory Model of teaching for the treatment.

Then the treatment started for the groups. ICT groups were taught using computers and attractive
instructional software and the LTM groups were taught by taking the students to the lab and
dividing them in some groups for performing the experiments individually. Both ICT and LTM
groups went through respective treatments for a period of 3 months. At the end of the relatively
long treatments, the posttest was administered to both experimental groups to measure their
terminal gains regarding the achievement in chemistry. After one month, the delayed posttest for
achievement in chemistry was administered to all the experimental and the control groups to
determine the retention level of the students.

Instrumentation

To test the hypotheses of this study, the researcher needed to use valid and reliable instruments.
The following are the brief descriptions of research instruments that were used to collect the
necessary data toward the purposes of the study.

Test of Higher Mental Ability in Science (THMAS)

Sansanwal and Joshi has developed and standardized this test in 1989. It assesses the higher
mental abilities like application, analysis, synthesis, and evaluation in relation to science. The test
contains 20 items and covers the above four abilities with 6, 6, 5 and 3 items each respectively. A
few of the items are open-ended and some are multiple choice questions. Though the items make
use of science content, they were designed in such a way that they assess the above mentioned
abilities and not knowledge or comprehension of science content. There was no time
limitation/restriction for the completion of the test. The levels of reliability and validity of the test
are explained as follows: (a) Reliability: The test-retest reliability was reported to range from 0.514

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to 0.816 (n=110); and (b) Validity: The concurrent validity of the test with science achievement
and general academic achievement were found to be 0.24 (n=104) 0.26 (n=102) respectively.

Achievement Test in Chemistry

The achievement test in chemistry was designed and developed by the researcher. It contains 43
items including multiple choice, short-answer, and essay-type questions. The test covered four
different content areas of knowledge, comprehension, application, and skills. The test was
constructed based on the content of the four chapters of the 7th Standard Science Book of
Karnataka State Syllabus. The four chapters were ‘Nature and Composition of Matter’, ‘Water’,
‘Heat’ and ‘Acid, Bases, and Salts’. Of the total number of items in the test, 20 were multiple
choice items, 12 were short-answers items, and 11 were long-answer items.

To construct the test, the researcher went through the Karnataka state syllabus science textbook
of seventh standard carefully. The items were constructed from the four chapters of chemistry
which were taught using ICT method and LTM.

Since the selected chapters were not equal in size and volume, the researcher had to specify the
weight of the marks allotted to each chapter according to their size and volume. Finally 30% of the
mark weightage was given to chapter 1 that was about ‘Nature and Composition of Matter’, 19%
weightage was given to chapter 2 that was about Water, 21% weightage was given to chapter 3
that was about Heat, and finally 30% weightage was given to chapter 4 that was about Acid, Bases,
and Salts. The test was designed based on the Bloom’s taxonomy of objectives. The weightages
were given to different objectives, thus 31% were allocated to knowledge, 29% to comprehension,
28% to application, and 12% were allocated to skills.

The weightages were also given to the type of the questions. Of the 43 items, 20% of marks were
multiple choice questions, 30% of questions were allotted to short-answer type of questions, and
finally 50% of questions were allotted to essay type of questions. Based on these weightage tables,
the blueprint of Achievement Test in Chemistry was prepared. Table 3 shows the blueprint for the
overall test of chemistry achievement.

Table 3. Blueprint for the Overall Test of Chemistry

Total No.
Objectives Knowledge Comprehension Application Skills of Total marks
questions
Multiple choice 7 6 7 - 20 20
Short answer 6 4 2 - 12 24
Long answer - 5 3 3 11 56

The Blueprint for the Achievement Test was developed to guide the proportions of measuring the
performance of the two groups of learners who were taught through the two different methods of
teaching. The test covered four different content areas, each divided into several subtopics. The
blueprint reflected the number of questions for each topic and indicated the type of gains tested,

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namely knowledge, comprehension, application, and skills. This blueprint helps ensure that the
selected course topics are covered at an appropriate level of understanding.

Based on the blueprint, the questions of the achievement test were constructed and the draft tool
was prepared by the researcher. This draft was sent to experts from the field of education and to a
few seventh standard chemistry teachers. Their suggestions were incorporated and the modified
draft of the test was prepared.

Because the Achievement Test in Chemistry was a researcher-constructed test, the researcher
needed to make sure that the items and the tests had the necessary qualities for the purpose of
validation. Toward this, first the researcher conducted a try-out of the test to see whether the test
possessed the necessary characteristics of a good test and whether its items had the required
characteristics including item facility, item discrimination, and choice distribution.

To test the instrument’s validity and reliability, the draft of the achievement test was administered
to 91 students from two schools of Mysore city. The feedback obtained from this administration
was used to devise the final instrument. The final instrument was tested for reliability using test-
retest and Cronbach's Alpha test of reliability. The reliability coefficients obtained as a result of
both procedures was 0.763, which is an acceptable index of reliability.

To test the validity of the final instrument, the researcher established the various types of validity
known as face validity, content validity, and criterion-related validity. Both the results and
comments of the experts regarding these issues assured that this newly-developed test was an
appropriate test and could measure what it was intended to measure. Based on these results, the
test was used in the study with confidence.

Results

Because the present study was an experimental one, several null hypotheses were tested based
on the obtained data. The results of these statistical tests were presented based on each sub-
hypothesis, usually in the form of tables of findings.

Hypothesis One: There is no significant difference in performance of students taught by ICT and
LTM with respect to posttest scores regarding;
a. Overall achievement in chemistry
b. Knowledge-, comprehension-, application-, and skills-components of achievement in
chemistry
c. Retention of achieved knowledge in chemistry
d. Retention of knowledge of chemistry in terms of knowledge-, comprehension-,
application-, and skills-components

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Comparison of Overall Achievement in Chemistry (H01a)

To test H01a, the researcher tabulated the data of the overall achievement test of chemistry of
students taught by ICT and LTM and compared them. The comparison of the means of the two
groups showed the following results. Figure 1 shows the difference graphically.

Figure1. Overall Scores of Achievement in Chemistry

To determine whether the observed differences among the two means were significant, the
means scores of the two groups were subjected to the independent sample t-test with regard to
LTM and ICT methods. As Table 4 shows, the t-value of 9.404 was found to be statistically
significant as the p value of .000 was smaller than the cut-off value of .05. This showed that there
was a significant difference between achievement levels of students taught by ICT and LTM with
respect to post-test scores in overall achievement in chemistry.

Table 4. t-test Results for Overall Achievement in Chemistry

Treatment N Mean Std. Deviation Std. Error Mean t df Sig. (2-tailed)

Achievement ICT 60 88.8000 10.04374 1.29664

9.404 118 .000
LTM 60 72.5333 8.86820 1.14488

Comparison of the Two Groups’ Achievements on Knowledge, Comprehension, Application, and

Skills Levels (H01b)

To determine whether the observed differences between the two means were significant, the
mean scores of the two groups were subjected to the independent sample t-test with regard to
ICT and LTM in knowledge-, comprehension-, application-, and skills-components of achievement.
As Table 5 demonstrates, component of knowledge with the t-value of 9.780, component of
comprehension with the t-value of 7.911, component of application with the t-value of 7.226, and
component of skills with the t-value of -2.003 were found to be statistically significant as the p
value of .000 was smaller than the cut-off value of .05. This showed that there were significant
differences between performances of students taught by ICT and LTM with respect to post-test
scores in knowledge, comprehension-, application, and skills-components of achievement test in
chemistry. Figure 2 shows this different graphically.

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Table 5. t-Test Results for Components of Achievement in Chemistry

Std. Std. Error Sig. (2-

Treatment N Mean t df
Deviation Mean tailed)

.09934
ICT 60 1.4308 .01282
Knowledge .20461 9.780 118 .000
LTM 60 1.1436 .02641

ICT 60 2.2050 .37934 .04897

Comprehension 7.911 118 .000
LTM 60 1.6606 .37453 .04835

ICT 60 1.8972 .24899 .03214

Application 7.226 118 .000
LTM 60 1.5194 .31940 .04123

ICT 60 4.6333 .86998 .11231 -

Skills 118 .003
LTM 60 4.9000 .55337 .07144 2.003

Figure 2. Scores in Components of Achievement in Chemistry

Retention of Achievement in Chemistry (H01c)

To test H01c, the researcher tabulated the data of the retention of achievement in chemistry with
regard to ICT and LTM and compared them. The comparison of the means of the two groups
showed that they had different means. Figure 3 shows the difference graphically.

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Figure 3. Retention of Achievement in Chemistry

To determine whether the observed differences among the two means were significant, the mean
scores of the two groups were subjected to the independent sample t-test to with regard to ICT
and LTM. As Table 6 shows, the t-value of 7.347 was found to be statistically significant as the p
value of .000 was smaller than the cut-off value of .05. This showed that there was a significant
difference between the performances of students taught by ICT and LTM methods with respect to
scores of retention of achievement in chemistry.

Table 6. t-Test Results for Retention of Achievement in Chemistry

Std. Sig.
Std.
N Mean Error t df (2-
Treatment Deviation
Mean tailed)
Retention ICT 60 69.8650 11.81346 1.52511
7.347 118 .000
LTM 60 56.2958 8.06981 1.04181

Comparison of Knowledge, Comprehension-, Application-, and Skills-Retention of Achievement

in Chemistry (H01d)

To test H01d, the researcher tabulated the data regarding the components of knowledge,
comprehension-, application-, and skills retention of achievement in chemistry for students taught
by ICT and LTM and compared them. The comparison of the means of the two groups showed that
they had different means. Figure 4 shows the difference graphically.

Figure 4. Overall Scores in Components of Retention of Achievement in Chemistry

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To determine whether the observed differences among the two means were significant, the raw
scores of the two groups were subjected to the independent sample t-test to compare the
retention scores of students taught by ICT and LTM. As Table 7 shows, component of knowledge
the t-value of 7.674, component of comprehension t-value of 4.639, component of application the
t-value of 9.230 were found to be statistically significant as the p value of .000 was smaller than
the cut-off value of .05. This demonstrated that there were significant differences between
performances of students taught by ICT and LTM methods with respect to retention scores in the
components of knowledge, comprehension, and application-retention of achievement in
chemistry. However, for the component of skills the t-value of -1.397 had no significant difference
as the p value of 0.165 was larger than the cut-off value of .05.

Table 7. t-test Results for Components of Retention of Achievement in Chemistry

Std. Std. Error Sig. (2-

Treatment N Mean t df
Deviation Mean tailed)

ICT 60 1.2045 .22666 .02926

Knowledge 7.674 118 .000
LTM 60 .8712 .24864 .03210

ICT 60 1.5350 .32136 .04149

Comprehension 4.639 118 .000
LTM 60 1.2492 .35293 .04556

ICT 60 1.5542 .30717 .03966

Application 9.230 118 .000
LTM 60 1.0875 .24292 .03136

ICT 60 4.2444 1.31178 .16935 -

Skills 118 .165
LTM 60 4.5333 .91894 .11863 1.397

Hypothesis Two: There is no significant difference between male and female students with
respect to post scores regarding;
a. Achievement in chemistry
b. Knowledge-, comprehension-, application-, and skills-components of achievement
c. Retention of achievement in chemistry
d. Knowledge-, comprehension-, application-, and skills-components of achievement in
retention

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Overall Achievement in Chemistry (H02a)

To determine whether the observed differences among the two means were significant across the
two genders, the mean scores of the male and female students in ICT and LTM groups were
subjected to the Analysis of Variance (2x2 Design). As Table 8 shows, the p values for gender and
treatment were individually smaller than the cut-off value of .05, which means the null hypotheses
are not confirmed.

Table 8. Tests of Between-Subjects Effects

Source df F Sig.
Gender 1 3.987 .048

Treatment 1 89.886 .000

Gender * Treatment 1 .868 .354

However, the p value for the interaction between treatment and gender is .354, which is greater
than .05, suggesting that there is no significant difference associated with the interaction between
gender and treatment.

As Table 9 shows, students in ICT group performed better than students in LTM group (M=88.80
versus M=72.53). Female students with higher means in both ICT (M=89.74 versus M=87.91) and
LTM (75.12 versus 70.11) performed better than their male counterparts.

Table 9. Results of Descriptive Analysis – Overall Achievement

Std.
Gender/Treatment Mean N
Deviation
ICT 87.9194 11.00026 31
Male Laboratory 70.1129 9.64772 31
Total 79.0161 13.63284 62
ICT 89.7414 9.00756 29
Female Laboratory 75.1207 7.25050 29
Total 82.4310 10.95713 58
ICT 88.8000 10.04374 60
Total Laboratory 72.5333 8.86820 60
Total 80.6667 12.47852 120

To sum up, ICT is more effective than LTM when it comes to the students’ overall achievement in
chemistry and female students performed better in both methods than the male students. The
interaction of treatment and gender was not significant.

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Knowledge-Component of Achievement (H02b)

To determine whether the observed differences among the two means were significant across the
two genders, the mean scores of the male and female students in ICT and LTM groups were
subjected to the Analysis of Variance (2x2 Design).

As Table 10 illustrates, the p values for interaction of gender and treatment and gender alone
were larger than the cut-off value of .05, which means that there are no significant differences
associated with the gender and interaction of gender and treatment. However, the p value for the
treatment is .000 which is smaller than .05, which suggest that there is a significant difference
associated with the treatment.

Table 10. Tests of Between-Subjects Effects

Source df F Sig.
Gender 1 .316 .575

Treatment 1 94.095 .000

Gender * Treatment 1 .399 .529

As Table 11 shows, as far as achievement on knowledge component is concerned, students in ICT

group performed better than students in LTM group (M=1.4308 versus M=1.1436). Male students
with higher means in both ICT (M=1.4318 versus M=1.4297) and LTM (M=1.1266 versus
M=1.1618) performed relatively better than their female counterparts; however, the differences
were not statistically significant.

Table 11. Results of Descriptive Analysis - Achievement on Knowledge

Std.
Gender/Treatment Mean N
Deviation
ICT 1.4318 .10636 31
Male Laboratory .22931 31
Total 1.2792 .23472 62
ICT 1.4297 .09312 29
Female Laboratory 1.1618 .17667 29
Total 1.2958 .19455 58
ICT 1.4308 .09934 60
Total Laboratory 1.1436 .20461 60
Total 1.2872 .21550 120

To sum up, ICT is more effective than LTM when it comes to the students’ achievement on
knowledge in chemistry. Although male students performed relatively better under both methods
than female students, the gender difference was not statistically significant.

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Comprehension-Component of Achievement (H02b)

As it is evident in Table 12, to determine whether the observed differences among the two means
were significant across the two genders, the mean scores of the male and female students in ICT
and LTM groups were subjected to the Analysis of Variance (2x2 Design).

As Table 12 presents, the p values for the gender as well as the interaction between treatment and
gender were larger than the cut-off value of .05, which means that there are no significant
differences associated with the gender and interaction between gender and treatment. However,
the p value for the treatment is .000 which is smaller than .05, suggesting that there is a significant
difference associated with the treatment.

Table12. Tests of Between-Subjects Effects

Source df F Sig.

Gender 1 1.277 .261

Treatment 1 62.057 .000

Gender * Treatment 1 .670 .415

As Table 13 shows, students in ICT group performed better than students in LTM group (M=2.2050
versus M=1.6606). Female students with higher means in both ICT (M=2.2161 versus M=2.1946)
and LTM (M=1.7299 versus M=1.5957) performed relatively better than their male counterparts
but this difference was not statistically significant.

Table 13. Results of Descriptive Analysis - Achievement on Comprehension

Std.
Gender/Treatment Mean N
Deviation
ICT 2.1946 .41032 31
Male Laboratory 1.5957 .40595 31
Total 1.8952 .50497 62
ICT 2.2161 .35013 29
Female Laboratory 1.7299 .33072 29
Total 1.9730 .41723 58
ICT 2.2050 .37934 60
Total Laboratory 1.6606 .37453 60
Total 1.9328 .46435 120

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To sum up, ICT is more effective than LTM when it comes to the comprehension-component of
achievement in chemistry. On the other hand, neither the gender effect nor the interaction effect
was statistically significant.

Application-Component of Achievement (H02b)

To determine the comparison of the means of the two groups across the two genders, the mean
scores of male and female students both in ICT and LTM groups were subjected to the Analysis of
Variance (2x2 Design).

As Table 14 shows, the p values for gender as well as for the interaction between treatment and
gender were larger than the cut-off value of .05, which suggests that there are no significant
differences associated with the gender and the interaction. However, the p value for the
treatment is .000 which is smaller than .05, which means that there is a significant difference
associated with the treatment.

Table 14. Tests of Between-Subjects Effects

Source df F Sig.
Gender 1 1.535 .218
Treatment 1 52.630 .000

Gender * Treatment 1 3.651 .059

As Table 15 shows, students in ICT group performed better than students in LTM group (M=1.8972
versus M=1.5194). Male students with a higher mean in ICT group (M=1.9140 versus M=1.8793)
performed relatively better than female students, but producing no significant difference.

Table 15. Results of Descriptive Analysis - Achievement on Application

Std.
Gender/Treatment Mean N
Deviation
ICT 1.9140 .25389 31
Male Laboratory 1.6034 .34957 31
Total 1.6774 .38558 62
ICT 1.8793 .24684 29
Female Laboratory 1.6034 .26437 29
Total 1.7414 .28918 58
ICT 1.8972 .24899 60
Total Laboratory 1.5194 .31940 60
Total 1.7083 .34249 120

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To sum up, when it comes to the application-component of achievement in chemistry, ICT is more
effective than LTM. However, neither the gender effect nor the interaction effect was statistically
significant.

Skills-Component of Achievement (H02b)

To determine whether the observed differences among the two means were significant across the
two genders, the mean scores of the male and female students in ICT and LTM groups were
subjected to the Analysis of Variance (2x2 Design).

As seen in Table 16, the p values for all comparisons were smaller than the set level of significance,
which is assumed as .05. Therefore, the differences among the two groups from all aspects were
statistically significant.

Table 16. Tests of Between-Subjects Effects

Source df F Sig.

Gender 1 17.987 .000

Treatment 1 4.407 .038

Gender * Treatment 1 6.128 .015

As Table 17 shows, students in LTM group performed better than students in ICT group (M=4.9000
versus M=4.6333). Female students with higher means in both LTM (M=5.0115 versus M=4.7957)
and ICT (M=5.0575 versus M=4.2366) performed better than male students.

Table 17. Results of Descriptive Analysis - Achievement on Skills

Std.
Gender/Treatment Mean N
Deviation
ICT 4.2366 1.01267 31
Male Laboratory 4.7957 .63056 31
Total 4.5161 .88280 62
ICT 5.0575 .36806 29
Female Laboratory 5.0115 .44080 29
Total 5.0345 .40315 58
ICT 4.6333 .86998 60
Total Laboratory 4.9000 .55337 60
Total 4.7667 .73824 120

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To sum up, LTM is more effective than ICT when it comes to the skills-component of achievement
in chemistry, and female students performed better in both methods than male students. The
interaction between treatment and gender was also significant.

Retention of Achievement in Chemistry (H02c)

The scores obtained by the two groups in the retention test were subjected to the Analysis of
Variance (2x2 Design) to decide if their overall achievement in the delayed test were different
from each other. As Table 18 shows, the p values for both gender and treatment were smaller
than the cut-off value of .05.

This confirmed that the retention scores of the two groups of students taught by the two methods
of ICT and LTM were significantly different. This showed that students taught by ICT retained what
they had learned longer than students taught by LTM methods did. However, the p value for the
interaction between treatment and gender is .082, which is greater than .05 suggesting that there
is no significant difference associated with the interaction of gender and treatment.

Table 18. Tests of Between-Subjects Effects

Source df F Sig.
Gender 1 6.176 .014
Treatment 1 58.114 .000
Gender * Treatment 1 3.074 .082

As Table 19 demonstrates, students in ICT group performed better than students in LTM group
(M=69.8650 versus M=56.2958). Female students with higher means in both ICT (M=73.7931
versus M=66.1903) and LTM (M=56.9741 versus M=55.6613) groups performed better than male
students.

Table 19. Results of Descriptive Analysis - Retention of Achievement

Std.
Gender/Treatment Mean N
Deviation
ICT 66.1903 14.59705 31
Male Laboratory 55.6613 8.88645 31
Total 60.9258 13.10714 62
ICT 73.7931 5.90289 29
Female Laboratory 56.9741 7.18951 29
Total 65.3836 10.69895 58
ICT 69.8650 11.81346 60
Total Laboratory 56.2958 8.06981 60
Total 63.0804 12.16130 120

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To sum up, ICT method is more effective than LTM when it comes to the students’ retention of
achievement. Also, female students performed significantly better in both methods than male
students. The interaction between treatment and gender was not significant.

Knowledge-Component of Retention (H02d)

To determine whether the observed differences among the two means were significant across the
two genders, the scores of the male and female students in ICT and LTM groups were subjected to
the Analysis of Variance (2x2 Design).

Table 20 shows that the p values for gender as well as for interaction between gender and
treatment were larger than the cut-off value of .05, which means that there are no significant
differences associated with the gender and the interaction. However, the p value for the
treatment is .000 which is smaller than .05, suggesting a significant difference.

Table 20. Tests of Between-Subjects Effects

Source df F Sig.
Gender 1 3.649 .059
Treatment 1 60.678 .000
Gender * Treatment 1 1.011 .317

As Table 21 illustrates, students in ICT group performed better than students in LTM group
(M=1.2045versus M=.8712). Female students with higher means in both ICT (M=1.2692 versus
M=1.1439) and LTM (M=.8912versus M=.8524) groups performed relatively better than male
students but again this difference was not statistically significant.

Table 21. Results of Descriptive Analysis - Retention of Achievement in Knowledge

Std.
Gender/Treatment Mean N
Deviation
ICT 1.1439 .23646 31
Male Laboratory .8524 .25320 31
Total .9981 .28395 62
ICT 1.2692 .19985 29
Female Laboratory .8912 .24650 29
Total 1.0802 .29294 58
ICT 1.2045 .22666 60
Total Laboratory .8712 .24864 60
Total 1.0378 .29006 120

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To sum up, ICT is more effective than LTM in terms of the knowledge component of retention of
achievement. Neither the gender effect and nor the interaction effect was significant.

Comprehension-Component of Retention (H02d)

To determine whether the observed differences among the two means were significant across the
two genders, the scores of the male and female students in ICT and LTM groups were subjected to
the Analysis of Variance (2x2 Design).

As Table 22 shows, the p values for gender as well as for interaction between treatment and
gender were larger than the cut-off value of .05, which means that there are no significant
differences. However, the p value for the treatment is .000 which is smaller than .05, suggesting
that there is a significant difference.

Table 22. Tests of Between-Subjects Effects

Source df F Sig.
Gender 1 2.205 .140
Treatment 1 22.570 .000
Gender * Treatment 1 2.815 .096

Table 23 depicts that students in ICT group performed better than students in LTM group
(M=1.5350 versus M=1.2492). Female students with a higher mean score in ICT group (M=1.6345
versus M=1.4419) performed relatively better than their male students, while males with a higher
mean in LTM (M=1.2548 versus M=1.2431) showed slightly better performance than females.

Table 23. Results of Descriptive Analysis - Retention of Achievement in Comprehension

Std.
Gender Treatment Mean N
Deviation
ICT 1.4419 .36633 31
Male Laboratory 1.2548 .33969 31
Total 1.3484 .36283 62
ICT 1.6345 .23235 29
Female Laboratory 1.2431 .37251 29
Total 1.4388 .36558 58
ICT 1.5350 .32136 60
Total Laboratory 1.2492 .35293 60
Total 1.3921 .36545 120

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To sum up, when it comes to the comprehension-component of achievement retention in

chemistry, ICT is more effective than LTM. On the other hand, neither the gender effect nor the
interaction effect was significant.

Application-Component of Retention (H02d)

To determine whether the observed differences among the two means were significant across the
two genders, the mean scores of the male and female students in ICT and LTM groups were
subjected to the Analysis of Variance (2x2 Design).

As Table 24 below shows, the p values for the gender variable and the interaction between gender
and treatment were larger than the cut-off value of .05, which means there are no significant
differences associated with the gender and the interaction. However, the p value for the
treatment is .000 which is smaller than .05, and this suggests a significant difference.

Table 24. Tests of Between-Subjects Effects

Source df F Sig.
Gender 1 1.435 .233
Treatment 1 86.592 .000
Gender * Treatment 1 1.557 .215

Table 25 depicts that students in ICT group performed better than students in LTM group
(M=1.5542 versus M=1.0875). Female students with higher means in both ICT (M=1.6178 versus
M=1.4946) performed relatively better than their male counterparts but both male and female
groups had almost same means in LTM (M=1.0887 versus M=1.0862).

Table 25. Results of Descriptive Analysis - Retention of Achievement in Application

Std.
Gender Treatment Mean N
Deviation
ICT 1.4946 .34556 31
Male Laboratory 1.0887 .25792 31
Total 1.2917 .36512 62
ICT 1.6178 .25051 29
Female Laboratory 1.0862 .23036 29
Total 1.3520 .35887 58
ICT 1.5542 .30717 60
Total Laboratory 1.0875 .24292 60
Total 1.3208 .36186 120

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To sum up, when it comes to the application-component of retention, ICT is more effective than
LTM. No other comparisons were statistically significant.

Skills-Component of Retention (H02d)

To determine whether the observed differences among the two means were significant across the
two genders, the mean scores of the male and female students in ICT and LTM groups were
subjected to the Analysis of Variance (2x2 Design).

As seen in Table 26, the p value of treatment and interaction of gender and treatment were larger
than the cut-off value of .05, which means that the differences for these comparisons are not
significant. However, the p value for the gender is .354 which is smaller than .05, suggesting that
there is a significant difference associated with the gender.

Table 26. Tests of Between-Subjects Effects

Source df F Sig.
Gender 1 4.112 .045

Treatment 1 1.938 .167

Gender * Treatment 1 .303 .583

As Table 27 shows, students in LTM group performed relatively better than students in ICT group
(M=4.5333 versus M= 4.2444) but the difference was not significant. Female students with higher
means in both ICT (M=4.5172 versus M=3.9892) and LTM (M=4.6897 versus M=4.3871) performed
better than their male counterparts.

Table 27. Results of Descriptive Analysis - Retention of Achievement in Skills

Std.
Gender Treatment Mean N
Deviation
ICT 3.9892 1.66107 31
Male Laboratory 4.3871 1.13886 31
Total 4.1882 1.42655 62
ICT 4.5172 .72147 29
Female Laboratory 4.6897 .58371 29
Total 4.6034 .65622 58
ICT 4.2444 1.31178 60
Total Laboratory 4.5333 .91894 60
Total 4.3889 1.13705 120

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To sum up, female students performed significantly better under both methods than the male
students on skills-component of retention. No other comparisons were statistically significant in
terms of this component.

Conclusions

Teaching chemistry through the ICT method is effective and should receive its due attention. By
way of exemplification, if a student only listens to his/her teacher’s description of, say, the word
snow, his/her understanding of the described word is surely much weaker and more subject to
forgetting than when the verbal description is reinforced by giving the learner the chance of
touching and feeling the snow on a snowy day. In the latter case, the learner’s mental connection
with the newly learned word is through more senses than just hearing. He/she sees or even
touches as well as hears about the concept of snow and this deepens his/her learning while
minimizing the chance of forgetting. ICT may not be able to give the students the chance of feeling
the coldness of snow and touching the snowflakes but it can bring the learners as close to the
reality of this experience as technology permits. Once the learners watch a movie and listen to the
descriptions about it, they actually approach the new topic in question from both the visual and
the auditory channels. This makes the understanding of the topic easier for them.

In this study, the researcher-made instructional clips, animations, instructional movies and
pictures which were based on the content of the science books gave the learners the chance of
learning the chemistry concepts through more senses than just hearing and provided them with
the opportunity to observe relationships that could never be explained by the other methods.
Through ICT, learners could use texts, sound, picture, animation, and videos simultaneously and
were accordingly better at learning chemistry. The researcher would also like to conclude that the
use of films, clips, photos, slides, the Internet and the like can both make the learners more
interested in the subject under discussion and help them understand those same concepts by
making them more tangible and less abstract.

When it came to the achievement in the knowledge-, comprehension-, application-, and skills
components of chemistry, the ICT method was more effective than the LTM in the case of all the
four components. Therefore, both male and female students equally benefit from ICT and are
negatively affected by the LTM. Similarly, as far as the overall achievement is concerned, the ICT
method of teaching chemistry was found to be much more effective than the LTM. Also, as for the
effects of the two methods of teaching on the retention of learned materials, the findings of the
study suggested that students taught through ICT method of teaching chemistry retained what
they had learned better than the students who were taught through the LTM. This was true both
for the overall achievement and the individual components of the achievement in chemistry.

Gender had no effect on the overall achievement in chemistry as the performance of the male and
female students in the overall achievement test of chemistry did not show any statistically
significant difference. The same results were found when the male and female students’ scores
were compared in each of the four components of the achievement in chemistry. There was no
significant interaction between the effect of treatment and gender of students taught by ICT and

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LTM in respect to their overall achievement in chemistry, nor was there an interaction between
the effects of gender and treatment in relation to their scores with regard to the knowledge-,
comprehension-, and application components of achievement in chemistry. However, female
students taught by ICT performed better than the male students taught by the same method in
the skills-component of chemistry. This was the only visible difference in terms of gender of the
elementary students participating in the study.

Based on the results of this study, several recommendations can be made both for practice and
future research. First, technology does not bring any success without appropriate instructional
strategies so that educators should employ ICT with proven teaching and learning approaches in
science education. Second, ICT often appears to be associated with multimedia in education; thus,
full capacity of contemporary multimedia should be utilized when designing ICT courseware. Third,
gender issues should not be completely ignored when integrating ICT in education. Fourth, new
studies should be conducted with secondary and even college students in order to test the results
of this study coming from elementary students. Finally, future research should identify sensitivities
among learner characteristics, subject matter areas, and interactive learning technologies with
regard to their compatibilities for best practices.

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Correspondence: Alireza Badeleh, Visiting Instructor, Department of Studies in Humanities, Islamic

Azad University, Sari, Mazandaran, Iran

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