Comparative Analysis of Effective Teaching Strategies for Improving Student Learning in Elementary and Secondary Education in Parsabad County

This study aimed to comparatively analyze effective teaching strategies and their role in improving student learning in elementary and secondary schools of Parsabad city. The research approach was quantitative, employing a descriptive-survey and causal-comparative (ex post facto) design. The statistical population comprised all teachers in these two educational levels during the academic year 2024-2025. Based on Krejcie and Morgan's table, a sample of 280 teachers was selected using stratified random sampling proportional to the size. Data were collected using the Approaches to Teaching Inventory by Trigwell and Prosser and the Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire by Pintrich et al., whose validity and reliability (Cronbach's alpha > 0.70) were confirmed. Data analysis was performed using independent t-tests, Pearson correlation, and multiple regression in SPSS. Findings revealed a significant difference in the use of effective strategies between elementary and secondary teachers, with a higher mean in elementary education (p<0.001). A positive and significant relationship was observed between effective teaching strategies and learning (r=0.51). The impact of strategies on learning was greater in elementary than in secondary education, and active learning strategies had a significantly stronger impact on improving learning than traditional ones. Furthermore, educational feedback and formative evaluation significantly enhanced the effectiveness of teaching strategies, increasing the model's explanatory power from 26% to 41%. The conclusion emphasizes the necessity of designing in-service training courses for secondary teachers focusing on active methods, attending to the differences between the two levels in curriculum planning, and systematically applying formative feedback to enhance learning quality.