A quasi-experimental investigation of the 7E learning cycle model integrated with computer animation on secondary school students’ attitudes toward biology in Ethiopia

This study investigated the effect of integrating the 7E instructional model with computer animation (CA) on secondary students’ attitudes toward biology in the Metekel Zone of Ethiopia. Addressing a critical need for effective, engaging science pedagogy in resource-constrained contexts, a quasi-experimental design was employed with pretest, posttest, and multiple treatment groups. Participants (N = 151) were assigned to one of three instructional conditions: the 7E model integrated with CA, the 7E model alone, or conventional instruction. Pre-intervention attitudes showed no significant differences. Post-intervention results, analyzed via ANOVA and a two-way ANOVA for the joint examination of instructional condition and gender effects, revealed that the 7E with CA group developed significantly more positive attitudes (p < 0.001, η² = 0.231) than both the 7E alone and conventional groups. No significant gender-based differences in attitude change were found, indicating the intervention’s equitable impact. The study concludes that integrating constructivist models like the 7E with accessible technology such as CA is a powerful strategy for fostering positive attitudes toward science, offering scalable implications for improving science education in similar developing regions.