The Effect of Block Class Scheduling on the Achievements of Primary School Students in Nature and Biology Classes

The objective of this study was to investigate whether the class scheduling of Nature and Biology classes in blocks results in better learning success for primary school students, and whether this depends on the average student success rate (i.e., student performance categories), age, or prior knowledge. For this study, we have assumed that block scheduling results in better success rates for older lower-performing primary-school students. The research included 773 fifth- to eighth-grade students from 14 Croatian primary schools. The students fell into two groups: one group attending 45-min Nature and Biology lessons twice a week (single-scheduled classes), and another group attending a 90-min lesson once a week (block-scheduled class). To assess the level of student learning success, all students underwent both an initial and final written exam in Nature and/or Biology, specific to each grade. The rmANOVA proved that there was a significant interaction among class scheduling, performance categories, and the initial and final written exam scores of fifth- and seventh-grade students. Such a correlation was not found among the sixth- and eighth-grade students. Our findings further indicate that students achieve better results in block-scheduled classes at the end of primary school education, and that block class scheduling does not necessarily result in improved student achievement, particularly in lower-performing students

Academic achievement · Block scheduling · Mathematics education · Computer Science · Experimental Learning in Engineering · Innovative Teaching Methods · Mathematics · Online and Blended Learning · Psychology · Artificial Intelligence

• Time in School

  Open Access•Matthew A Kraft, Sarah Novicoff•American Educational Research…•2024

  Incluir item

• Making Sense of Secondary Science

  Rosalind Driver, James Driver•Making Sense of Science•1994

  Incluir item

• Effects of Block vs. Traditional Scheduling on High School Science Success—Lessons from Biology Classes

  Open Access•Irena Labak, Mirela Sertić Perić et al.•Education Sciences•2020

  Incluir item

• Exploring Alternative Ways of Assessing Prior Knowledge, Its Components and Their Relation to Student Achievement

  Open Access•Telle Hailikari, Anne Nevgi et al.•Studies In Educational Evaluation•2007

  Incluir item

• Variables associated with achievement in higher education

  Michael Schneider, Franzis Preckel•Psychological Bulletin•2017

  Incluir item

• What Are We Doing to Early Adolescents? The Impact of Educational Contexts on Early Adolescents

  Jacquelynne S Eccles, Sarah Lord et al.•American Journal of Education•1991

  Incluir item

• The Nature of Learning

  Oecd, OECD OECD et al.•The Nature of Learning•2010

  Incluir item

• Do Psychosocial and Study Skill Factors Predict College Outcomes? A Meta-Analysis

  Steven B Robbins, Kristy Lauver et al.•Psychological Bulletin•2004

  Incluir item