The Effectiveness of Hands-on Learning in the Classroom

Chapter 1
INTRODUCTION
Everyday, teachers are faced with the challenge of teaching students new information that is valuable to their future. Teachers are responsible to determine what and how information is taught. How this information is taught to students is pertinent to their success; therefore, teachers must be able to use effective teaching methods in the classroom. Students have diverse learning styles; therefore, teachers need to determine how students learn best and pattern their teaching to accommodate these differences. During elementary school, children learn to read and write, acquire a basic understanding of content areas, and develop dispositions toward …show more content…

Attitudes
Oftentimes, students fail academic subjects because they have developed negative attitudes towards that particular subject. The perception that females are inferior to males in performing and understanding math problems have helped develop negative attitudes toward learning (Garrity, 1998). When the hands-on learning approach was implemented in some school systems, positive attitudes towards science and math were reported. Students that have positive attitudes toward science are more likely to have higher achievement scores (Frederick, 1999). Research also indicates that students whose teachers conduct hands-on learning activities outperform their peers by more than 70% of a grade level in math and 40% of grade level in science because they develop positive attitudes toward learning (Wenglinsky, 2000). These findings indicate that attitudes actually determine achievement, whereas many believed that achievement determined attitudes (Frederick, 1999). Improving students attitudes toward learning will direct effect their motivation t o learn.
Motivate Learning
For students to acquire new knowledge, it is imperative that an environment be created that will stimulate and motivate learning. Lack of motivation affects all learners. Since learners do not have the desire to learn or are not engaged in learning, they are often labeled as at-risk, low achievers, or unmotivated learners (Cluck, 2003). To motivate students to