International Association of Educators   |  ISSN: 1308-9501

Volume 9 Issue 1 (March 2018)

Original Articles

The Relation Between Elementary School Students' Science Success and Science Attitude, Anxiety, Interest

Şafak Uluçınar Sağır

pp. 1 - 11

Abstract

Science course  for  students  is  the first step in science for them. This  study has been done to find out the relation between students’ success in science lessons and interest, attitude and anxiety towards the science. The correlational survey method was used in this research. The universe of the study is the 4th grade students attending to the elementary schools in Amasya City in 2016-2017 academic  year and the sample consists of 211 students. The Unit Light and Sound Achievement Test, The Scale of Interest Towards Science, The Scale of Anxiety towards Science, The Scale of Attittude towards Science and the personal information form are the data collecting tools. The data was analysed in the SPSS 20.0 programme. It has been found out in the analyses the students’ success, attittudes and interests are over average, their anxiety is low. No meaningful difference in terms of gender has been found out in the student achievement, attittude, anxiety and the interest. It has been concluded that decrasing students’ anxiety towards the science will increase their attitude and achievements. Regression equation was developed for the study. The class teachers are suggested that enlarging the students’ field of interest  by applying different activities during science course can change their anxiety and attittude towards science.

Keywords: Science succes, science attitude, science anxiety, science interest

Using Wikis to Increase Writing Skills in Writing Classes

Sezgin Ballidag

pp. 12 - 17

Abstract

It’s an undeniable fact that the majority of the teenagers today are keen on technology, and they tend to use it for various purposes. This research attempted to see how using a wiki page in a writing lesson could affect students’ success. The research lasted for two months. Each week, students handed in an assignment, either as a hard copy or online. Data was collected using two different instruments. First of all, Pre and post questionnaires were applied in order to see the student’s attitudes towards the use of internet for educational purposes specifically for writing lesson and peer edit. Besides this, the midterm results of the students, which served as a determiner for success, were analyzed by dependent samples t-test. Results showed that there was not a significant difference in the results of the two groups in terms of their grades, besides this, the percentage of the students who thought wiki was a valuable source for a writing class in the pre-questionnaire decreased in the post-questionnaire. That’s to say, integrating a wiki into the writing classroom was of no help to increase students’ writing skills.

Keywords: collaborative learning, using Wikis for writing classes, peer-editing, constructivism

Yilugnta and other Predictors of Class Participation and Achievement in Selected Courses at Addis Ababa University

Darge Wole

pp. 18 - 31

Abstract

The study investigated the effect of yilugnta (synonymous with public self-consciousness, or PSC) and other selected factors on class participation and course grade in Math for Finance and Communicative English at Addis Ababa University. Other factors considered as potential predictors included sex, self-esteem and English proficiency. Path analysis using Amos was used to examine model fit and direct as well as indirect effects. Yilugnta was found to have a direct negative and significant effect on class participation and a similar indirect effect on course grade. The factors which reliably predicted class participation were yilugnta and English proficiency. The results underscore the importance of yilugnta in determining class participation and achievement. The concept of yilugnta and the findings pertaining to it also point to the importance of examining the PSC construct and its impact on student academic engagement and achievement from the cultural perspective.

Keywords: Yilugnta, public-self consciousness, class participation, achievement

Examining The Effect of The Storyline Method of Education on The Level of Elementary School Preparedness of Five Year-Old Children

Elif Özsarı & Havise Çakmak Güleç

pp. 32 - 43

Abstract

This study examined the effect of the storyline method of education on the level of elementary school preparedness of five year-old children. The study was of experimental research design and used the pretest/posttest with control group experimental model. The universe of the study constituted 5 year-old children attending a pre-school program in the district of Edremit, Balıkesir during the 2015-2016 academic year. The study sample comprised 23 experimental, 23 control group children, a total of 46 children, who were afternoon attendees of the Sarıkız Preschool located in the district of Edremit in Balıkesir, Turkey. The Marmara Elementary School Preparedness Scale was used to collect data for the research and the data analysis was performed with the non-parametric Wilcoxon Signed Rank Test. The research entailed conducting activities with the experimental group every day for 7 weeks during the hours of 3 p.m. - 5:30 p.m., according to an activity plan based on the storyline method. The research results revealed a significant difference in the five year-olds who were taught with the Storyline method in terms of their Mathematical skills, Science Skills, Mental and Language Development, Socio-emotional Development and Self-care Skills. The storyline method is not an approach that is widely used in Turkey and because of this, there is only a scant number of studies that have been conducted on this technique. Since this study entails a comprehensive examination of the effects of the storyline method of children's education, it is believed that it will make a significant contribution to the literature. At the same time, the study includes a recommendation that the method of storyline education should be improved in the light of its findings and be more widely employed in the school system.

Keywords: Storyline method, elementary school preparedness, constructivist approach, pre-school education, mathematical skills, science skills, mental and language development