Science education without formula: The example of simple machines

The aim of the research is to investigate the effect of middle school 8th grade students' use of a method of solving problems related to the subject of simple machines by deriving mathematical expressions on their success. In the research, a quasiexperimental design with pre-test post-test experiment-control group was used. The participants of the research are 8th grade students of Yeşiltepe Secondary School in Çelikhan district of Adıyaman province in the 2020-2021 academic year. Simple machines achievement test (SMAT) developed by the researcher was used as a data collection tool. While the 5E model was applied in the control group, they were asked to derive mathematical expressions by making measurements and obtaining data based on the tools designed within the scope of Design Based Science Education (TTFE) in the exploration step in the experimental group. During the evaluation phase, BMBT was applied to both groups as a post-test and, after four weeks, as a retention test. Mann Whitney U and Wilcoxon tests were applied to determine whether there was a difference between two independent groups in the analysis of the data, and a p<0.05 level was considered significant. When the pre-test results of the simple machines achievement test were examined, no significant difference was observed between the experimental and control groups. After the applications, it was determined that the pre-test post-test score difference of the experimental group was higher, but there was no significant difference between the control and experimental groups. In addition, it was observed that the result was in favor of the experimental group according to the rank averages and rank totals. According to the results of the permanence test, it was observed that the posttest mean score of the experimental group and the control group and the permanence test mean score were close to each other. Therefore, it can be said that the applied method provides permanence for both groups.