The effect of children's picture books prepared for the fourth grade science course on students' academic achievement and reading development

The aim of this study is to examine the effects of picture books prepared for science courses on the academic achievement and reading development of fourth grade students. For this purpose, a mixed methods research approach, convergent parallel design in which quantitative and qualitative data are collected simultaneously was used. The study was conducted with 30 fourth grade students in a public elementary school in the Körfez district of the city of Kocaeli during the 2019-2020 academic year. Criterion sampling which is a type of purposeful sampling was used in determining the study group, and the criteria included class size, equal number of male and female participants, third-grade general academic success, science course academic success and Turkish course academic success. In this study, the data collection tools are discussed separately as qualitative and quantitative tools. The quantitative data collection tools used in this study included: "Properties of Matter Academic Achievement Test" with a reliability value of 0.82 developed by researchers, "Science Learning Orientation Scale" developed by Yetişir & Ceylan (2015) and that has a reliability value of 0.89, "Instructional Materials Motivation Scale" with a 0.88 reliability value developed by Dinçer & Doğanay (2016), "Reading Anxiety Scale" with a reliability of 0.97 developed by Çeliktürk & Yamaç (2015) and "Sentence Verification Tests" developed by the researcher, calculated according to Ateşman's (1997) readability formula and found to be moderate level, were used. Observation forms and semi-structured interview forms developed by the researchers, student journals and researcher journals were used as the qualitative data collection tools in this study. Expert opinions were sought for the validity of qualitative data collection tools, and the reliability formula suggested by Miles and Huberman (1994) was used for reliability. Within the scope of this study, prior to implementation, children's picture books consisting of 7 chapters were developed to cover the key concepts, scientific knowledge, and related outcomes in the "Properties of Matter" chapter in the fourth grade Science Curriculum. Expert opinion was obtained to scientifically evaluate the stories prepared for children's picture books and to determine their compatibility with the outcomes. In order to examine the effects of the children's picture books on students' academic achievement, reading anxiety, reading development, and science orientation, "Academic Achievement Test", "Science Learning Orientation Scale", and "Reading Anxiety Scale were implemented as pre-test on 30 4th grade students. The research process was completed in 10 weeks with the implementation of all pre-test and post-tests and student interviews. Science lessons were conducted with students in the experiment group using picture books for 7 weeks and 3 hours a week. The lessons were conducted by the researcher, and the classroom teacher participated in the study as an observer. Data were collected using qualitative data collection tools after each lesson conducted with a children's picture book. In this context, the qualitative data obtained through the structured student journals, researcher journals, and student interviews were used to capture the opinions and thoughts of the participants about learning science with children's picture books. After the implementation, the quantitative data collection tools used in the pre-test and the Motivation Scale for Instructional Material were administered as a post-test to 30 4th grade students in the study group. Within the scope of this study, the data obtained from quantitative data collection tools were analyzed by completing a dependent sample t-test and a one-factor analysis of variance (ANOVA) for correlated measures while the data obtained from qualitative data collection tools were analyzed using content analysis. In the study, the findings from both data types were combined and interpreted to better understand the problem. The results of the study showed that there was a statistical difference between the pre-test mean scores (x̄ = 11.33 + 2.94) and the posttest mean scores (x̄ = 18.03 + 2.84) of students in favor of the posttest. Although the pre-test mean scores (x̄ = 132.20 + 22.33) of the students in the study group were lower than the post-test mean scores (x̄ = 132.53 + 17.33) in the "Science Learning Orientation Scale", the difference between the pre and post-tests was statistically not significant. Although there was no significant difference between the "Reading Anxiety Scale" pre-test mean scores (x̄ = 69.36 + 32.96) and post-test mean scores (x̄ = 56.20 + 31.64) of the students in the study group, there was a decrease in reading anxiety. According to the post-test scores of the "Instructional Material Motivation Scale" of the students in the study group, it was found that 1 student had medium level of motivation (3.33%), 11 students had high level of motivation (36.67%) and 18 students had a very high level of motivation (60%). Within the scope of this study, students' opinions on the 7 children's picture books prepared for the 4th grade level chapter on properties of matter and the lessons taught with these books were also evaluated. According to the findings, students stated that picture books for children are remarkable and entertaining to a great extent, that they like lessons taught with these books, that they want the lessons to be continued this way, that they should use picture books in different lessons, and that they have positive thoughts about science lessons thanks to the picture books. In the light of the data obtained in this study, by preparing illustrated children's books in alignment with the outcomes of both science and different courses, further research is recommended with different variables, research methods and designs to examine the effectiveness of these books.