A comparative study of student motivation and academic achievement in Grade 8 science under teacher-centered and student-centered instructional methods at Triamudomsuksa Pattanakarn School, Thailand

Abstract

The purpose of this comparative study was to compare academic achievement and student motivation under teacher-centered and student-centered instructional methods in science grade eight at Triamudomsuksa Pattanakarn School, a government school located in Bangkok, Thailand. A total of 59 students took part in this study over a period of seven weeks. The research involved six objectives. Objectives 1 and 2 were to determine student motivation under teacher-centered and student-centered instructional methods. Objectives 3 and 4 were to determine student academic achievement under teacher-centered and student-centered instructional methods. Objective 5 was to compare student motivation between the two instructional methods. Finally, Objective 6 was to compare student academic achievement under the two instructional methods. The findings of the study suggested that the instructional methods did not differ significantly in terms of student achievement. Student motivation was higher for the student-centered group than the teacher-centered group.