Impact of using the station technique in teaching the "Acids, Bases, and Salts" unit on 10th graders' academic achievement and attitudes towards Chemistry

This research primarily seeks to investigate the impact of teaching the topics "Acids and Bases," "Reactions of Acids and Bases," "Acids and Bases in Our Lives," and "Salts," within the "Acids, Bases, and Salts" unit in the 10th grade Chemistry course, using the station technique, on students' academic achievement and attitudes towards the Chemistry course. This study was conducted with 113 tenth graders enrolled in the second semester of the 2022-2023 academic year at a private vocational and technical high school in Denizli, Türkiye. A quasi-experimental design was employed, featuring intervention and control cohorts, utilizing pre- and post-tests. Two classes were randomly assigned to the intervention cohort and two to the control cohort. The intervention group received instruction via the station technique, while the controls were taught with the traditional lecture method in line with the official curriculum. Academic achievement was measured using an "Acid-Base Achievement Test" developed by the researcher, and attitudes were assessed using the "Chemistry Attitude Scale" adapted by İnal (2013). The obtained data were subjected to analysis using the IBM SPSS statistics 26 package program. Non-parametric analysis of post-test academic achievement scores revealed a significant difference favouring the intervention cohort, indicating that the station technique proved to be more effective than traditional teaching methods and led to higher academic achievement. Similarly, parametric analysis of the post-test chemistry attitude scores of both cohorts showed a significant difference in favor of the intervention group. These findings suggest that the station technique not only enhances students' academic performance but also positively influences their attitudes towards the Chemistry course. Future studies can address this technique under headings such as retention and motivation, and it is suggested that it can also be implemented in other courses and grade levels.