RELATIVE EFFECTS OF FEEDBACK AND REMEDIATION ON STUDENTS' COGNITIVE ACHIEVEMENT IN PHYSICS

Abstract

This study examined the effects of feedback and remediation on the cognitive achievement of Senior Secondary School Two (SSS II) students in Physics in Ikire, Osun State. A quasi experimental pretest–posttest control group design was adopted. The study population comprised students from ten public secondary schools, with a sample of 520 students selected through simple random sampling. Participants were assigned to Feedback, Remediation, and Control groups, with the control group taught using the conventional lecture method. Data were collected using the Physics Achievement Test (PAT), a 40-item multiple-choice instrument developed from the SSS II Physics curriculum. The instrument was validated by experts and achieved a reliability coefficient of 0.84 using the KR-20 method. The study lasted six weeks and involved pretest administration, treatment implementation, and posttest assessment. Data were analyzed using mean, standard deviation, and Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA) at the 0.05 significance level. Results showed that both feedback and remediation significantly improved students’ cognitive achievement in Physics compared with the conventional method. Students exposed to remediation performed slightly better than those who received feedback only, while the combined application of feedback and remediation produced the highest achievement gains. Gender had no significant effect on students’ achievement. The study concluded that feedback and remediation are effective instructional strategies for improving students’ cognitive achievement in Physics. It recommended that Physics teachers incorporate these strategies into classroom instruction.