A study of the effectiveness of constructivist approach in teaching learning of history in terms of retention

Constructivist paradigm describes the process of learning as meaning-making, in which individuals construct mental models that ground their understanding in a deeply personal and unique fashion. Constructivism places the learner at the centerstage. The constructivist approach is relevant to all subjects of study but more particularly to study of History. Students find it hard to retain the concepts and content of History as their interest level in history is often hard to raise, as they tend to see these topics as outdated and distant from their personal interests and concerns. Hence, a need was felt to study the effectiveness of constructivist approach on the student teachers, who can, in turn, apply it in their classrooms. The effectiveness of Constructivist Approach was studied on Retention of the student teachers. 62 students of Kalka Institute for Research and Advanced Studies constituted the sample of the study. A quasi-experimental design was utilized. Students were randomly divided into experimental group and control group. The experimental group was taught using constructivist approach (Inquiry Guided Learning) while the control group was taught using the conventional approach (talk and chalk). The data was analyzed quantitatively and qualitatively. The analysis of data found a significant difference in the level of retention of control and experimental groups after one month of the completion of the experimental intervention. The experimental group was found to have higher level of retention as compared to the control group.