Effect of contextual and manipulative learning approaches on performance in chemistry of grade 12 STEM students

This quasi-experimental study was conducted to investigate the effectiveness of Contextual and Manipulative Learning Approaches on Performance in Chemistry of Grade 12 STEM students of Filamer Christian University for the school year 2024-2025. The participants were seventy-two (72) Grade 12 Science, technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) students. The independent variables were Contextual and Manipulative Learning Approaches while the dependent variable was Performance in Chemistry of Grade 12 STEM students. The research instrument used to measure the performance in chemistry of the students was the researcher-made Performance in Chemistry Multiple Choice Test. It was a 60-item multiple choice test. The descriptive statistical tools used were mean and standard deviation, while the inferential test used for data analysis was the t-test with a level of significance at 0.05 alpha level. Major findings revealed that the Performance in Chemistry of Grade 12 STEM students during the pre-test of the contextual and manipulative learning approaches was found to be “good” but after the interventions, the post-test results of the two group of students revealed that both approaches had an “outstanding” performance in chemistry. There was no significant difference in the performance in chemistry of Grade 12 STEM students in the pre-test of contextual and manipulative approaches. However, there was a significant difference in the performance in chemistry of Grade 12 STEM students in the pre-test and post-test of both groups under Contextual and Manipulative Learning Approaches. There was no significant difference in the post-test of the Contextual and Manipulative approaches.