BLENDED LEARNING METHOD COURSE ATTITUDES TOWARDS ACADEMIC SUCCESS AND EFFECT

T.C. İNKILAP TARİHİ VE ATATÜRKÇÜLÜK DERSİNDE HARMANLANMIŞ ÖĞRENME YÖNTEMİNİN AKADEMİK BAŞARI VE TUTUMA ETKİSİ

Abstract

The aim of this study is to investigate the effects of blended learning environment created in “Turkish Republic Revolution History and Kemalism” course on students’ academic achievement and attitudes toward the course. The experimental group was provided blended learning while the first control group online learning and the second control group face-toface learning. This study had a pre-test – post-test control group experimental design. The quantitative data came from the Turkish Republic Revolution History and Kemalism achievement test and the scale measuring attitudes toward the Turkish Republic Revolution History and Kemalism course while the qualitative data came from an evaluation form administered to the experimental group and the first control group. According to the results obtained from the Turkish Republic Revolution History and Kemalism achievement test, significant differences were found in favor of the experimental group exposed to blended learning. The blended learning environment was found to positively affect students’ attitudes toward the course. Significant differences were found in favor of blended learning. In the first control group exposed to online learning, students’ attitudes toward the course were negatively affected. According to the test results, possessing a personal computer (PC) was found to have a positive effect on achievement of students exposed to blended learning, but no effect on their attitudes toward the course.Significant differences were also found among pre-test results of the achievement test in favor of boys. However, there were nonsignificant differences among post-test results of the achievement test. According to the total pre-administration results obtained by the attitude scale, there were nonsignificant differences between girls and boys in terms of their attitudes toward the course. According to the results of two-way analyses of variance, method used in the course was found to affect achievement before and after the intervention. Results indicated that blended learning is the most effective one with student achievement. The results of two-way analyses of variance also showed that method used in the course affects students’ attitudes toward the course Introduction: Nations must bring up qualified citizens for their own futures. A society needs an effective education process in order to keep alive. Our century is a period in which it is necessary for states to transfer the knowledge and accumulation to the life. It is evident that teaching of history has preliminary role in the development of the nations. The point that we must focus on here is “Why do we teach history?” or “Why should we teach history?”. We need to define the goal or the goals in history teaching. The answers to why we teach history can be gathered under two titles. Firstly, the answer of this question is the history teaching considered as supportive of social life or regime. Considering the history or teaching of history leads us to the other question. This question is “what kind of a history teaching” or “How should we teach history?”. History courses do not have a system in which teachers use a laboratory environment to teach students as in science or math education. As we cannot make the subjects practically concrete in the minds, we must draw attention of the students and make concrete the courses by taking the advantage of the benefits of contemporary technology. There have been studies on the effects of advanced technology on success and understanding but these studies are deficient at the primary school level. Method: Experimental methods were used in this study which was designed to find out the effect of blended learning on academic success and attitude in the course of Ataturk’s Principles and History of Turkish Revolution. The common feature of experimental methods are using more than one group and forming groups from randomly selected samples. For this reason, there have to be at least one experimental group and one control group in the study. The participants of the research were 92 students who were studying at the 8th grade at Atatürk Primary School in the province center of Afyonkarahisar. There were 31 students in the experimental group, 31 students at the control group 1, and 30 students at the control group 2. The groups were randomly defined as control groups or experimental group. The courses were conducted by the researcher without giving information about which groups were controls and experimental. In the experimental method used in the research, the independent variable whose effect observed on the experimental group was “blended learning method”. The independent variable used in the control groups were “online education method” in Control Group 1 and “face to face education method” in Control Group 2. The effect of the same dependent variable on control and experimental groups were searched.Academic achievement test of Ataturk’s Principles and History of Turkish Revolutioncourse as dependent variable and the results of attitude questionnaire belongs to the course of Ataturk’s Principles and History of Turkish Revolution were analyzed. Pretest and posttest results were used in order to evaluate the data obtained from the dependent samples. Findings (Results): A significant difference was found between the pretest results of female and male students’ scores before the application in Ataturk’s Principles and History of Turkish Revolution courses. But, there was not a significant difference observed in the posttest results after the application. When the standard deviation scores of attitude scale were compared in terms of pretest and posttest results, the difference in the students’ point of view was duplicated. There was not a significant difference found between the pretest results of attitude scale in male and female students towards Ataturk’s Principles and History of Turkish Revolution course before the application. There was not a signific

Özet

Araştırmanın amacı, harmanlanmış öğrenme ortamının Türkiye Cumhuriyeti İnkılap Tarihi ve Atatürkçülük dersinde öğrencilerin akademik başarılarına ve derse karşı tutumlarına etkisini incelemektir. Deney grubunda harmanlanmış öğrenme, kontrol grubu 1'e çevrimiçi öğrenme ve kontrol grubu 2'ye yüzyüze öğrenme uygulanmıştır. Araştırma öntest - sontest kontrol gruplu deneysel desen ile gerçekleştirilmiştir. Araştırmanın nicel boyutu Türkiye Cumhuriyeti İnkılap Tarihi ve Atatürkçülük dersi başarı testi ve Türkiye Cumhuriyeti İnkılap Tarihi ve Atatürkçülük Cumhuriyeti İnkılap Tarihi ve Atatürkçülük dersi başarı testi sonuçlarına göre, gruplar arasında harmanlanmış öğrenme grubu lehine istatistiksel açıdan anlamlı farklılık oluşmuştur. Harmanlanmış öğrenme ortamının öğrencilerin tutumlarını olumlu yönde etkilediği görülmüştür. Yapılan analizde harmanlanmış öğrenme lehine anlamlı farklılık bulunmuştur. Ayrıca çevrimiçi öğrenme uygulanan kontrol grubu 1'de öğrencilerin derse karşı tutumlarının olumsuz yönde etkilendiği görülmüştür.Kişisel bilgisayara sahip olma durumlarına göre sonuçlara bakıldığında, akademik başarı testi sonuçlarına göre kişisel bilgisayara sahip olmak harmanlanmış öğrenme yönteminde başarıyı olumlu yönde etkilemektedir. Ancak derse karşı tutumları üzerinde bir etkisi olmadığı görülmüştür. Başarı testi ön uygulama sonuçları arasında erkek öğrenciler lehine anlamlı farklılık ortaya çıkmıştır. Ancak başarı testi son uygulama puanlarında bu farklılık ortadan kalkmıştır. Türkiye Cumhuriyeti İnkılap Tarihi ve Atatürkçülük dersi tutum ölçeği ön uygulama toplam puanlarının sonuçlarına göre bütün gruplardaki kız ve erkek öğrencilerin derse karşı tutumları arasında anlamlı bir farklılık belirlenmemiştir. Grupların akademik başarı testi ön uygulama ve son uygulama sonuçlarının tekrarlı ölçümler için iki faktörlü anova sonuçları derste işlenen yöntemin uygulama öncesinden sonrasına dersteki başarıyı etkilediği görülmektedir. Sonuçlara göre başarı ön uygulamadan son uygulamaya en olumlu yönde etkileyen yöntem harmanlanmış öğretim yöntemidir. Grupların tutum ölçeği ön uygulama ve son uygulama sonuçlarının tekrarlı ölçümler için iki faktörlü anova sonucuna göre uygulanan yöntemin derse karşı tutumlarını etkilediği görülmektedir