The effect of 4MAT method on academic achievement and permanence of learning in transformation geometry subject

The purpose of this study is to examine the effects of 4MAT method on students' academic achievement in teaching of "Transformation Geometry" – a subject included in primary education 7th grade mathematics curriculum. The pretest-posttest control group quasi-experimental design was administered in the study. The study was performed in the second semester of the 2012-2013 academic year. In this period, transformation geometry subject was taught to one group with activities appropriate to 4MAT method which took into consideration learning style an brain hemisphere and to another group as based on lesson book. In two secondary schools, located in a district in the province of Kastamonu, 32 from the experimental group and 29 from the control group, total 61 seventh grade students constitute the sample of research. Quantitative data of the study were obtained from Transformation Geometry Knowledge Test, consisting of 30 questions and developed by researchers through taking expert opinion and doing the validity and reliability study. The qualitative data were obtained from the interview form consisting of questions about the use of 4MAT method and mathematics diaries which students keep at the end of each course. Transformation geometry knowledge test was administered to both groups as pre-test prior to the application, as post-test at the end of application and as permanence test a month after the implementation of the post-test. In this research, ttest and ANCOVA test were used for testing quantitative data. According to the results of the quantitative data analysis, it was seen that experimental group students to which Transformation Geometry subject was taught with activities appropriate to 4MAT method are more successful than control group students at significant level and also it was seen that their knowledge gain are more permanent. In the analysis of qualitative data, descriptive analysis and content analysis were used. The analysis of qualitative data shows that regarding the explanation of Transformation Geometry subject with 4MATmethod, about ninety-five percent of students expressed positive opinions. Key Words: 4MAT learning style model, transformation geometry, learning style, brain hemisphere