The effectiveness of the round house strategy in the achievement of fourth grade female students and developing their scientific thinking

Abstract

The current research aims to explore the effectiveness of the Roundhouse strategy in improving the achievement of fourth-grade science students in biology and enhancing their scientific thinking. The research population consisted of all fourth-grade science students in preparatory and secondary schools in Mosul during the 2022-2023 academic year. The research sample was selected purposively from fourth-grade science students at Al-Rashidiya Girls' Preparatory School. A class was randomly selected to serve as the experimental group (34 students) who studied using the Roundhouse strategy, and a control group (34 students) who studied using the traditional method. To achieve the research objective, the researchers developed an achievement test consisting of 30 multiple-choice items covering the four chapters of the biology textbook. They also adopted the Scientific Thinking Scale (Al-Rikabi, 2016), which consists of 30 items with three answer choices for each item. After verifying the validity, reliability, difficulty index, discrimination index, and effectiveness of the answer choices, the instruments were ready for application to the research sample.  The statistical results showed that the students in the experimental group outperformed others in academic achievement and scientific thinking. The study then offered several recommendations and suggestions. Among the most prominent recommendations was the necessity of including training programs for educational staff on the use of modern, student-centered teaching strategies, with a focus on enhancing scientific thinking skills. Key suggestions included Studying the effectiveness of the Roundhouse strategy in developing multiple intelligences and analyzing the efficacy of new strategies in enhancing scientific thinking skills.