AI Summary & Key Takeaways
AI InsightFinally, it was found that 4MAT Teaching Model eliminated the differences in self-efficacy believes according to the students’ learning styles.
📌 3 Key Takeaways
Abstract
In order to increase achievement in science, various arrangements were made and continued to be made. In 2013, by the last arrangement in the Science Course Teaching Program (MEB, 2013), inquiry based teaching approach is started to be suggested. Despite this teaching approach is an efficient one in science teaching, it may not create similar amount of pleasure in all students for doing research because of their individual differences. These individual differences include brain dominance and learning style. Therefore, it is important to compare the effects on science teaching of the 4MAT Teaching Model and the Whole Brain Model, which are learning style models that take into account brain dominance and to compare those effects with the ones of inquiry based instruction. In addition, it is also important to compare those effects of the models with each others’. In spite of the all similarities, they differ in the learning styles that they defined and in the brain hemispheres that they consider. 4MAT Teaching Model is based on the Kolb Learning Styles; while the learning styles given in Whole Brain Model are determined according to the dominantly used brain hemisphere. Another difference between the models is that 4MAT Teaching Model activates only the classically known cerebral hemispheres. However, besides these hemispheres, Whole Brain Model takes into account also the hemispheres of the limbic system. Finally, 4MAT Teaching Model activates brain hemispheres sequentially in a cycle; whereas Whole Brain Model does not follow a cycle, it activates the brain hemispheres by taking into account the subject flow. These differences may also result in differences in learning outcomes. When, self-efficacy belief is under consideration as an affective outcome, it was foreseen that Whole Brain Model, which considers the limbic system that controls emotions will provide superiority. Therefore the main purpose of this research is to examine and compare the effects of 4MAT Teaching Model, Whole Brain Model, and inquiry based instruction on science course self-efficacy. In addition, it was also examined whether the effects of these instructions on the science course self-efficacy beliefs differentiate according to the learning styles of the students or not. The study was designed in a static group pre-test and post-test experimental design. Participants of the study were 68 6th grade students in three classes of a middle school. These three classes were assigned randomly as Experiment I, Experiment II and the control group. The system in our body unit was instructed through 4MAT Teaching Model in Experiment I group, Whole Brain Model in Experiment II group and inquiry in control group for 32 class hours. While preparing the lesson plans, the elements of the teaching program (MEB, 2013) such as outcome, content, assessment and evaluation were kept in all of the groups’ plans. The only difference in the groups’ lesson plans were tried to be created in learning and teaching processes. While collecting data, Science Course Self-Efficacy Scale developed by Ilgaz (2011) was applied as a pre and post test. The scale consists of learning beliefs and skill beliefs subscales. The Cronbach-alpha coefficient for these subscales and the whole scale was calculated as 0.83, 0.83 and 0.87, respectively (Ilgaz, 2011). In order to determine the learning styles of the students, Kolb Learning Style Inventory III was applied before the experimental procedures. The adaptation of the inventory in Turkish was conducted by Gencel (2006). The correlation between the Turkish version and the English version was calculated as 0.77 and the reliability coefficients of the subscales of the Turkish version were found to be changed between 0.71 and 0.84 (Gencel, 2006). During the analysis of the data, non-parametric tests were used as the data did not show a normal distribution. These used tests are Wilcoxon Signed Test, Kruskal Wallis Test and Mann Whitney U Test. In addition, while comparing the effects of the models and inquiry based instruction with each other Analysis of Covariance Test (ANCOVA) which is a parametric test was conducted by converting the data to a normally distributed one; since ANCOVA does not have a nonparametric alternative. The first finding revealed that science teaching by using 4MAT Teaching Model caused a decrease in science course self-efficacy. It may be results from the extra work load, such as creating a product related to subject, that the model brings to the students. This work load may make the students get bored. In the line with this inferring, in another study, students criticize the model as being boring and time consuming (Aktaş, 2011). On the other hand, Whole Brain Model and inquiry based instruction did not cause any change in students’ self-efficacy beliefs. The second finding showed that there was not any difference between these three different instructions’ effects on science course self-efficacy. This is a surprising result. Since, Whole Brain Model takes into account the limbic system which regulates the emotions, it was expected that it will positively affect the self-efficacy beliefs which is an affective characteristic. In literature, the effects of Whole Brain Model on only two of the affective characteristic, attitude (Tokcan, 2007) and motivation (Bawaneh, Md Zain, Saleh & Abdullah). However, there is not another study investigating the effect of the model on self-efficacy. Finally, it was found that 4MAT Teaching Model eliminated the differences in self-efficacy believes according to the students’ learning styles. Since, the model rooted from the Kolb’s Learning Style Model, this result is a reasonable result. Whereas, in the groups in which Whole Brain Model and inquiry base instruction were used, any differences in science course self-efficacy beliefs stems from learning styles were not detected before and after the experimental processes.
Özet
Araştırmanın amacı 4MAT Öğretim Modeli ve Bütünsel Beyin Modeli ile öğretimin Fen Bilimleri dersi öz yeterlik algısı üzerindeki etkilerini saptamak ve bu etkileri birbirleri ve araştırma-sorgulamaya dayalı öğretimin etkisi ile karşılaştırmaktır. Öğretimlerin öz yeterlik algısı üzerindeki etkilerinin öğrenme stillerine göre farklılaşıp farklılaşmadığı da araştırılmıştır. Araştırma statik grup ön test-son test deneysel desende, 68 6. sınıf öğrencisinin katılımı ile gerçekleştirilmiştir. Fen Bilimleri dersinde, gruplardan birinde 4MAT Öğretim Modeli, diğerinde Bütünsel Beyin Modeli, kontrol grubunda araştırma-sorgulama öğretim yaklaşımı uygulanmıştır. Veri toplama araçları olarak Fen Bilimleri Dersi Öz Yeterlik Algısı Ölçeği ve Kolb Öğrenme Stili Envanteri III uygulanmıştır. Sonuç olarak, 4MAT Öğretim Modeli'nin öz yeterlik algısını olumsuz etkilediği, diğer öğretimlerin ise her hangi bir etkiye yol açmadığı ve öğretimlerin öz yeterlik algısı üzerindeki etkilerinin farklılaşmadığı saptanmıştır. 4MAT Öğretim Modeli'nin öğrencilerin öz yeterlik algılarındaki öğrenme stillerinden kaynaklanan farklılıkları ortadan kaldırdığı ve diğer öğretimlerin öz yeterlik algısı üzerindeki etkilerinin öğrenme stillerinden bağımsız olduğu sonuçlarına ulaşılmıştır