The effect of jigsaw II technique on life skills and academic achievement of fifth grade students in a middle school

The aim of this thesis is to examine the effects of teaching material prepared in the " Mystery of the Earth's Crust " unit based on the jigsaw II technique on the life skills and academic achievement of fifth grade students in a middle school. The study was conducted with the intervention design examined in the mixed research method. While teaching with the Jigsaw II technique in the experimental group, the control group was not intervened and was taught using individual teaching techniques based on the inquiry strategy prescribed by the Science Curriculum. The sample of the study constitutes 70 middle school fifth grade students selected from Sivas Central middle schools. In this context, the "Life Skills Scale" was developed by the researcher to examine the development of life skills of middle school fifth graders. "Living Skills Development Observation Form" was prepared by taking advantage of this developed scale. The effect of the technique on life skills was evaluated by observing 3 students from lower, middle and upper level. In addition, these students who were observed by video recording completed "weekly self-assessment forms". "Academic Achievement Test" and "Teaching Material Based on Combination II Technique" have been prepared taking into consideration the achievements of the mystery of the ground unit. The "Jigsaw II Technique Learning Environment Evaluation Form" was created by the researcher to check the ability of the teaching material to work in the learning environment."Semi-structured interviews" were conducted with the practice teacher and 9 students to assess the impact of the technique on the learning environment. "portfolios" were prepared to provide a framework for the application environment by experiment group. Quantitative data obtained from academic achievement test and observation forms were analyzed using SPSS 16.0 program and frequency tables were prepared. In case of qualitative data obtained from video transcripts and interviews on observations of life skills, content analysis was done with the help of observation form. According to the findings in the study, it is the opinion that the jigsaw II technique allows students to develop communication skills and teamwork skills in the 5th grade students of middle school. While there is a noteworthy improvement in lower level students in leadership skills, improvement has been achieved in lower and middle level students in decision making skills. The direction of these developments or changes is interpreted according to living skills. Findings on the effects of the jigsaw II technique on the learning environment suggest that the students are socialized and have difficulties in taking notes and grading but have developed strategies to take notes over time and that the videos are effective in attracting attention and increasing their relevance to the documentary, the results are noteworthy as they are effective but need to be regulated, the awards increase the motivation and the students have unforgettable experiences. According to these results, it is suggested to use the teaching material prepared in this thesis study for the development of life skills in the 5th grade of middle school and to investigate the causes of changes in life skills and quality of skills.