The Impact of Enhanced Visual Aids on the Academic Performance and Retention of Grade 10 Science Students in Sri Lanka

Abstract

Science learning at the secondary level often requires students to understand abstract concepts, technical terms, and processes that are difficult to observe directly. This study investigated the impact of enhanced visual aids on the academic performance and retention of Grade 10 students in science. A single-group pre-test, post-test, and retention-test design was used with 30 Grade 10 students from a government school in the North-Western Province of Sri Lanka. The intervention consisted of six Science lessons in Biology, Chemistry, and Physics taught over four weeks using diagrams, charts, videos, animations, models, and multimedia presentations. Data were collected through a teacher- made Science achievement test, a delayed retention test, and structured questionnaires administered to students and teachers. Descriptive statistics, frequency analysis, and paired-samples t-tests were used to analyze the data. The findings showed that due to visual-aid-based instructional intervention, students’ overall mean score increased from 51.57 in the pre-test to 53.93 in the post-test, and the difference was statistically significant, t (29) = 6.75, p < .001. Improvements were also observed across Biology, Chemistry, and Physics. The retention-test results indicated that students maintained the learning gains after the intervention period. Questionnaire responses further showed positive student and teacher perceptions of visual aids, particularly videos, experiments, and models. The study concludes that the systematic use of visual aids can support comprehension, engagement, academic performance, and retention in Grade 10 Science. However, the small single-school sample and absence of a control group limit the generalizability and causal strength of the findings.