The effect of Web 2.0 tools used in 7th grade cell and divisions unit on students' experience of 21st century skills and their academic achievement

The aim of this study is to examine how the activities developed by using web 2.0 tools for the 8 objectives of Cell, Mitosis and Meiosis in the "Cell and Divisions" unit in the seventh grade secondary school science curriculum have an effect on students' experience of 21st century skills and academic achievement, and in this context, to reveal students' opinions about the use of web 2.0 tools. For this purpose, sequential transformational design, one of the mixed research designs, was used in the study. The quantitative dimension of the study was carried out using a quasi-experimental design with pretest/posttest unequalised control group, and the qualitative dimension was carried out using a phenomenological design. The study was conducted in the first semester of the 2023-2024 academic year in a secondary school in the central district of Çorum province with a total of 46 students, one experimental (n=22) and one control (n=24) group. In the six-week study, the experimental group was taught with activities prepared using web 2.0 tools, while the control group was taught with activities in the textbook prepared within the scope of the current curriculum. The 21st Century Skills Scale (CS), Academic Achievement Test (AAT), Critical Thinking Tendency Scale (CTTS) and Lifelong Learning Scale (LLSS) were used as data collection tools. Two-way anova analysis for repeated measures, one-way anova analysis, related samples t-test and unrelated samples t-test, which are parametric tests, were used to analyse the data. According to the findings obtained from the research, it was revealed that the effect of classical method course activities on students' 21st century skills, critical thinking tendency, lifelong learning and academic achievement scores did not differ according to gender, groups and age. On the other hand, it was determined that the course activities prepared using web 2.0 tools contributed significantly to the 21st century skills, critical thinking disposition and lifelong learning experiences of the students in the experimental group, but did not have a significant contribution to academic achievement and lifelong learning scale communication in a foreign language and self-confidence sub-dimensions. Again, in the analyses, it was understood that the activities carried out with the use of web 2.0 tools made significant and positive contributions to the students in the experimental group, but this positive contribution did not differ according to gender. According to the results obtained from the qualitative data of the study, it was determined that the innovative methods and interactive contents offered by web 2.0 tools in the educational process enrich learning experiences, increase students' interest and motivation towards the course, and enable them to experience 21st century skills. However, technical problems such as the lack of Turkish language support for some web 2.0 tools, the complexity of the tools and the limited functionality of free versions prevented students from using web 2.0 tools effectively and caused them to experience difficulties in their learning processes. Deficiencies such as some students' lack of personal computers and internet access at home restricted the accessibility of the tools and created obstacles in students' learning experiences.