The effect of parent education level on student's academic achievement: An example of Life Science lesson 'Life in Nature' theme

It is thought that the family has a complementary role in the communication between the school, the student and the teacher. In this study, it was aimed to examine the effect of parental education level and other demographic characteristics of the duration of dealing with the child within the scope of the course on the academic success of the student within the scope of the Life Science course, Life in Nature theme. The study group of the research consisted of 26 students attending their 3rd grade in the district of Iskenderun in Hatay province in the 2021-2022 academic year, and the voluntary participation of the parents of the students in the research. The data collected about the general structure of the families who voluntarily participated in the study were analyzed and reported. Within the scope of the unit, a resource book was sent to the homes of the students. The aim here is to draw attention to the resources sent to the parents and students without intervention and to encourage them to work with their parents at home. There are quantitative and qualitative research methods in the structure of the research. The research data were collected with the parent and student information form and the data collection tools in which written statements including open-ended questions were expected in the content of the Life in Nature unit applied to the students. The analysis of the obtained data was achieved by using a statistical program. In the research, percentage and frequency analyzes were applied according to data types. According to the findings obtained at the end of the study, when the concept knowledge that all students participating in the study had in the pretest in the Life in Nature unit and the concept knowledge they had in the posttest were evaluated, it was determined that the concept knowledge that was at a medium level before the unit was at a good level at the end of the unit. The effect of family education level was determined with the pre-test application. The final test shows the influence of the school and the teacher. It has been determined that the effect of school and teacher is more effective on the conceptual development of female students when the difference between the two exams is examined. When the post-test results were evaluated, it was determined that there were no students in the class who were not aware of the concepts related to the subject. After the post-test application, it was determined that the concept numbers of the students were close to each other, even though the fathers' study area was different. Another remarkable situation is that, as a result of the post-test, the pre-test and post-test averages of the students whose mothers are secondary school graduates and those whose mothers are undergraduate graduates were found to be close to each other. No questions were asked about the family's opportunity to participate in social activities and supporting their social lives, as well as mental abilities in increasing children's school success. This was thought to be incomplete when investigating the academic success of the student. After that, it is recommended to examine the effect of social and cultural activities on academic success for those who will do research on this subject. As a suggestion to the researchers, it is recommended to investigate the effect of parent education level in a larger sample and at the 3rd and 4th grade levels of primary school.