Effect of design thinking approach on students’ achievement in some selected physics concepts in the context of STEM learning

The study investigated the effect of using a design thinking teaching method on male and female students’ achievement in some selected secondary school physics concepts in the context of STEM learning. The study was carried out in an afterschool environment which necessitated the researcher using a single group quasi experimental research design conducted in purposively selected two secondary schools of comparable standards. Intact classes of physics students comprising of 48 male students and 41 female students overall in the schools were used in the study. A pilot study was conducted using a 25 item physics learning achievement test (PLAT) validated by experts in STEM fields. Reliability coefficient of validated PLAT using test retest method by Kuder-Richardson (KR-20) was established at .86 for the multiple choice test and Pearson product moment reliability coefficient for the semi-structured questions at .81. Study utilized the researcher’s developed STEM-design thinking modules validated by STEM experts. The modules combined the concepts of STEM learning and design processes of empathy, ideation, brainstorming prototyping, testing and retesting to learn selected physics concepts for 3 months. Prior to its use, students in each school of study were administered a pretest and similarly a posttest using PLAT after the study intervention. Study intervention was carried out using the developed and validated STEM-design thinking modules. Result obtained from statistical analysis using the paired sample t test and a one-way ANCOVA revealed that there were no significant differences between the achievement of male and female students in physics learning. Findings revealed that both male and female students improved in their achievements and that male participants had higher achievement scores than the females when STEM-design thinking modules were used to learn selected physics concepts. Implications includes necessity for physics teachers’ innovative training on developing and using a gender-balanced STEM-design thinking pedagogy. Such training should equip teachers on how such developed STEM-design thinking modules can be used to create opportunities relating learning of physics concepts to real life situations. This is necessary in order to improve male and female learners’ construction of knowledge through discovery in a constructivism environment. Such is vital in a world of rapidly changing nature of technology with the necessity of skills for solving real world problems in the twenty-first century. Conclusion and recommendations were therefore made in the study.