Enhancing hydrocarbon learning with a 9E Learning Cycle-Tetrahedral Model

Abstract

This study examined the effects of integrating the 9E Learning Cycle Model (9E LCM) with the Tetrahedral Multiple Representation Learning Model (TMRLM) on learning outcomes in hydrocarbons while also evaluating each model individually. Using a quasi-experimental, pretest–posttest design, 176 tenth-grade students from four intact classes were randomly assigned to three intervention groups (IG1, IG2, IG3) and a comparison group (CG). IG1, IG2, IG3, and CG received integrated 9E LCM and TMRLM, 9E LCM, TMRLM, and conventional instruction, respectively. The hydrocarbon achievement and conceptual understanding tests served as the primary data collection instruments; the resulting scores were subsequently analyzed using MANOVA. The post-test results demonstrated that all three models were significantly more effective than conventional methods in improving student’s achievement and conceptual understanding. A significant gender difference was found, with males outperforming females in IG1 and IG3, and females outperforming males in IG2 and CG; yet, the effect size of this difference was medium. A consistent finding across all groups was that students mastered factual knowledge more easily than conceptual understanding. This study concludes that the intervention models are the powerful approach for enhancing learning outcomes, particularly in a 21st-century classroom, and recommends its adoption and adaption for teaching.