The effects of flipped classroom practices on 8th grade students' academic achievement, attitudes and retention in teaching the seasons and the climate unit

The aim of this study is to investigate the effects of flipped classroom practices on students' academic achievement and retention for the eighth-grade science course that includes the seasons and the climate unit. In addition, students' attitudes towards the unit taught were compared for the control and the experimental groups and their views on the practices were also investigated. The study was carried out with a total of 32 students studying at Vatan Secondary School in the Silvan district of Diyarbakır during 2020-2021 academic year. The experimental group consists of fifteen (16) students while, the control group consists of sixteen (16) students. The study employed a mixed research method that involved both qualitative and quantitative research methods. a quasi-experimental model was used in this study in which the effects of flipped classroom practices on the participant students' academic achievement and retention for the seasons and the climate unit was examined. Additionally, at the end of the study, the participant students' attitudes towards the science lessons taught were compared and experimental group students' opinions about the flipped classroom model were collected. While the experimental group students were taught through the flipped classroom model, the control group students were taught by employing the suggested teaching methods in the current national curriculum for science. The data for the study were collected by using the Seasons and Climate unit achievement test (MEB-MNE), Science Attitude Scale and semi-structured interview forms. The data collected for the study was analysed by using SPSS 27. After comparing the pre-test post-test academic achievement scores of the experimental group students and the control group students, an independent t-test analysis was conducted to determine whether there was a statistically significant difference between the mean scores of the both participant groups. The t-test results did not yield any statistically significant difference between the academic achievements of the experimental group and control group students. There are studies, in the related literature, with the similar results. Also, the academic achievement test conducted with the participant students 6 weeks after the study did not show any statistically significant differences for retention when the groups were compared. This was probably as a result of the fact the participant groups consisted of 8th grade LGS preparatory students who were preparing for the national exam at the end of the semester. Both the experimental group students and the control group students review all the topics covered both in DYK courses and in their individual studies. Therefore, these factors are probably effective in the similarity of the retention and academic achievement of both the experimental group and the control group students. The analysis of the attitude scores, obtained at the end of the study, did not yield any significant differences in the students' attitudes towards the topics taught both for the experimental and the control groups. In order to determine the experimental students' views on the model, the participant students were asked to fill out an interview form consisting of 11 open-ended questions about the model after the study. The analysis showed that the participant students in the experimental group liked the model, they suggested the lessons are more fun with the flipped classroom model and they have perceptions that they are more active in the lessons thanks to this method. The scarcity of studies on flipped classroom practices related to secondary school science course in the related literature attracts attention. In this respect, it is thought that the study will contribute to the practitioners and researchers who want to apply this model in the secondary school science course, and therefore to the literature. In addition, since the 8th grades are the exam preparation classes, it will probably be beneficial to apply this method in the short content units of the 8th grades. Flipped classroom practices allow students to get away from the monotony of traditional lectures, allowing students to be active in the classroom process and increasing teacher and peer interaction. Therefore, it has a huge potential to contribute to the motivation of the students in the classroom process. Keywords: Flipped Classroom, Academic Achievement, Retention, Science Teaching