In social sciences class-6 the effect of utilizing the mind mapping technique based on cooperative learning method on students' academic achievement and attitudes toward classes

The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of utilizing the mind mapping technique based on cooperative learning method on students' academic achievement and attitudes toward classes in teaching the subjects found in the "Our country's resources" chapter of the secondary school's sixth-grade social studies class, and to determine the views of the students related to implementation of the technique. The study carried on sixth grade student of Mustafa Kemal Secondary School located in central Elazığ in the spring semester of 2015-2016 school-years. The study is in the form of mixed research, and both quantitative and qualitative data has been utilized. While a quasi-experimental design with pretest-posttest control group being used in the quantitative aspects of the study, in the qualitative aspect of the study the interview technique has been utilized. In the study there is an experiment (n=23) and a control (n=21) group is present. While courses in the experimental group held with the mind map technique, in the control group the courses held through programs based on teaching methods and techniques. In the study, achievement test, attitude scale and interview form have been utilized as data collecting tools. In the analysis of data obtained from study both parametric tests and non-parametric tests have been used. In the analysis of data obtained from the study, quantitative aspects of the data obtained from the study results have been analyzed by SPSS 17.00 software. In order to make accurate analysis on the obtained findings, for checking whether the data shows a normal data distribution or not, Kolmogorov-Smirnov and Shapiro-Wilk test have been applied. In the meantime, in cases where the homogeneous distribution of variance shown, among the parametric tests: Paired Samples Statistics' T-Test, Independent Samples T-test and One Way ANOVA test have been used, and in cases where the homogeneous distribution of variance was not present, tests such like Mann-Whitney U test, Wilcoxon signed-rank tests, Kruskall-Wallis-H which are corresponding nonparametric tests of above have been used. In the analysis of data, the arithmetic mean (X), standard deviation (SD) and frequency and percentage values have been taken into account. In the evaluation of the statistical results, P*<,0.50 significance level has been taken into account. According to the findings as a result of the study, in terms of posttest academic average scores of control group and the experiment group, statistically, a significant difference in favor of the experimental group has been found. In terms of attitudes towards social studies course of the student, it has not concluded that there is a difference in between the groups. In the analysis of qualitative data, reviews have been made by using NVIVO 9 software. According to the findings as a result of 6 open-ended questions posed to students, it was seen that they were mostly emphasizing memorability of Information, entertainment, socialization, responsibility and Interaction categories. Key words: Social Studies, Mind Maps, Cooperative Learning