The effect of animation-supported sound teaching on academic success of 6th grade students

In this study, it was aimed to examine the effect of animation-based teaching for the unit "Sound and Its Features" on the academic achievement of 6th grade students. A quasi-experimental design with pretest-posttest control group was used in the quantitative dimension of the research, in which mixed method was used in which quantitative and qualitative approaches were used together. In the qualitative part of the study, interviews were conducted with the students from the experimental and control groups after the post-test. The population of the research consists of 6th grade students training in middle schools in Malatya, and the target population is consist of middle schools in Malatya city center. The sample of the research selected by the convenient sampling method was consists of 75 6th grade students in total who are taught by a science teacher works in a state secondary school and wants to voluntarily support the research. Two separate classes, where 75 students trained, were randomly assigned to form the experimental (N=38) group and the control (N=37) group. Before the development of the animations, the effect of which will be examined on the achievement of the students in the "Sound and Its Features" unit, a needs analysis was made by taking the opinions of the teachers about the unit and the relevant literature was examined. As a result of the examination, it was decided to prepare 4 animations. While preparing the animations, first scenarios were created and visual content and character designs were made in accordance with these scenarios. A mobile application called "FlipaClip" was used to simulate the propagation of sound waves. The developed content was adapted to scenarios on the platform called "Animaker". Voiceovers were made for the animations scripted on this platform, and the animations were montaged with the video editing application called "CapCut". While the experimental group was taught with the animations developed during the implementation process, the control group was taught as the current curriculum. How the students' achievement in the "Sound and Its Features" unit changed before and after the implementation was measured with the "Sound and Its Features Achievement Test" developed by the researcher. The Cronbach α reliability coefficient of the achievement test consisting of a total of 18 items was calculated as 0.745. The pre-test application data of the experimental and control groups were analyzed with descriptive statistics and independent sample t-test, and one way analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) was used to compare the scores of the experimental and control groups from the achievement test as a result of the application with animation. Content analysis was used in the analysis of the interviews with the students and the statistically obtained data were investigated in depth. According to the results obtained from the research, a statistically significant difference was found between the achievement means of the experimental group taught with the animations developed and the achievement means of the control group in favor of the experimental group. As a result of the research, it was determined that the animation based teaching increased the achievement of the students in the experimental group regarding the "Sound and Its Features" unit. Key words: Sound and Features, Animation, Academic Success, Teaching of Sound, Science Education