The investigation of the effect of science writing heuristic approach on students' conceptual understanding, use of multiple representations and argumantaton skills

This study aimed to examine the effect of the Science Writing Heuristic (SWH) approach in science education on the conceptual understanding, multiple representations and argument skills of 8th-grade students. The embedded design technique of mixed method research was used in the study. The sample of the study consisted of 11 students in the 8th grade attending a village school in the Central Anatolia region. In accordance with the SWH Approach, activities were conducted in the science laboratory under three main topics: physical and chemical changes, chemical reactions, and acids and bases. Afterwards, summary writing activities were applied to the students for learning purposes. The study was completed in 7 weeks. In the study, a two-tier concept achievement test, an representation survey, vignette questions, laboratory reports prepared by students according to the SWH approach, and summary writing activities were used as data collection tools. The data obtained were analyzed using the Wilcoxon signed-rank test and the Friedman test. As a result of the study, students' conceptual understanding, argument skills and representation skills improved with SWH approach. No statistically significant differences were observed among the summary writing activities.