Cultural and technological Synergy: A new Pathway to learners success in development studies in Lesotho secondary schools

Efforts to improve learners' achievement in Development Studies (DS) have been ongoing, yet the chief examiners' reports from 2018 to 2023 show no significant improvement. This persistent issue may be linked to the use of inappropriate pedagogical practices. There is a notable lack of rese...

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Main Authors: Musa Adekunle Ayanwale, Mathaha Puseletso
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2025-01-01
Series:Social Sciences and Humanities Open
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Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2590291125000403
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author Musa Adekunle Ayanwale
Mathaha Puseletso
author_facet Musa Adekunle Ayanwale
Mathaha Puseletso
author_sort Musa Adekunle Ayanwale
collection DOAJ
description Efforts to improve learners' achievement in Development Studies (DS) have been ongoing, yet the chief examiners' reports from 2018 to 2023 show no significant improvement. This persistent issue may be linked to the use of inappropriate pedagogical practices. There is a notable lack of research exploring the Culturo-Techno-Contextual Approach (CTCA) in Southern Africa; hence, we investigated how CTCA can enhance learners' achievement in DS classrooms. Grounded in socio-constructivism, practice architecture, and meaningful verbal learning theory, a quasi-experimental design involving grade 11 intact classes was employed to generate quantitative data. We employed an Analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) to assess the impact of CTCA on learners' achievement and mean ranks were calculated to determine the difficulty levels of DS topics. The results indicate that the most challenging topic was theories of development (M = 4.72), followed by Population and Development (M = 3.71). More importantly, learners exposed to CTCA significantly outperformed their peers in the comparison group, as evidenced by [F (1,47) = 4.579; p < 0.05] n2 = .89 (p = 0.038). These results suggest that CTCA positively impacts learners' achievement, particularly in Population and Development. Continuous assistance and active participation were associated with higher scores and better comprehension. We conclude that incorporating CTCA in DS teaching can improve learner outcomes. These results underscore the need for adopting innovative pedagogical approaches like CTCA to enhance educational practices and learner achievement in DS.
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spelling doaj-art-8a64171b33c648598cbd64182fe6f85f2025-01-31T05:12:22ZengElsevierSocial Sciences and Humanities Open2590-29112025-01-0111101313Cultural and technological Synergy: A new Pathway to learners success in development studies in Lesotho secondary schoolsMusa Adekunle Ayanwale0Mathaha Puseletso1Department of Mathematics, Science and Technology Education, Faculty of Education, University of Johannesburg, Auckland Park, 2006, South Africa; Corresponding author.Department of Language and Social Education, Faculty of Education, National University of Lesotho, Maseru, 100, LesothoEfforts to improve learners' achievement in Development Studies (DS) have been ongoing, yet the chief examiners' reports from 2018 to 2023 show no significant improvement. This persistent issue may be linked to the use of inappropriate pedagogical practices. There is a notable lack of research exploring the Culturo-Techno-Contextual Approach (CTCA) in Southern Africa; hence, we investigated how CTCA can enhance learners' achievement in DS classrooms. Grounded in socio-constructivism, practice architecture, and meaningful verbal learning theory, a quasi-experimental design involving grade 11 intact classes was employed to generate quantitative data. We employed an Analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) to assess the impact of CTCA on learners' achievement and mean ranks were calculated to determine the difficulty levels of DS topics. The results indicate that the most challenging topic was theories of development (M = 4.72), followed by Population and Development (M = 3.71). More importantly, learners exposed to CTCA significantly outperformed their peers in the comparison group, as evidenced by [F (1,47) = 4.579; p < 0.05] n2 = .89 (p = 0.038). These results suggest that CTCA positively impacts learners' achievement, particularly in Population and Development. Continuous assistance and active participation were associated with higher scores and better comprehension. We conclude that incorporating CTCA in DS teaching can improve learner outcomes. These results underscore the need for adopting innovative pedagogical approaches like CTCA to enhance educational practices and learner achievement in DS.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2590291125000403PedagogyConstructivismCTCALesotho
spellingShingle Musa Adekunle Ayanwale
Mathaha Puseletso
Cultural and technological Synergy: A new Pathway to learners success in development studies in Lesotho secondary schools
Social Sciences and Humanities Open
Pedagogy
Constructivism
CTCA
Lesotho
title Cultural and technological Synergy: A new Pathway to learners success in development studies in Lesotho secondary schools
title_full Cultural and technological Synergy: A new Pathway to learners success in development studies in Lesotho secondary schools
title_fullStr Cultural and technological Synergy: A new Pathway to learners success in development studies in Lesotho secondary schools
title_full_unstemmed Cultural and technological Synergy: A new Pathway to learners success in development studies in Lesotho secondary schools
title_short Cultural and technological Synergy: A new Pathway to learners success in development studies in Lesotho secondary schools
title_sort cultural and technological synergy a new pathway to learners success in development studies in lesotho secondary schools
topic Pedagogy
Constructivism
CTCA
Lesotho
url http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2590291125000403
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AT mathahapuseletso culturalandtechnologicalsynergyanewpathwaytolearnerssuccessindevelopmentstudiesinlesothosecondaryschools