Exploring Effective Pedagogy: A Comparative Analysis of Hands-On Experimental and Traditional Teaching Methods in the Elementary Science Curriculum

This study highlights the global issue of declining interest in physics, especially in under-resourced contexts such as Mongolia. While internet access to information has grown, it often replaces essential teacher-student interaction. We compared the effectiveness of hands-on physics experiments (HPE) and traditional instruction among 95 fourth-grade students, randomly assigned to experimental and control groups. Pre- and post-tests were administered, with follow-up recall assessments at 2 and 4 months. The experimental group outperformed the control group by 12.74% and 10.87% at each interval, respectively (p < 0.05). These results demonstrate that HPE significantly improves long-term retention and engagement. The findings support the integration of low-cost experimental approaches in science education, particularly in resource-constrained settings.