The effect of the use of educational games in the life science course on the academic success and attitudes of the students

Many different methods and techniques need to be used in the education and training process. One of these is the educational game method that offers a learning experience by doing and experiencing. Educational games are one of the methods used in many courses during the teaching process. With this method, students both gain academic skills and have the opportunity to learn while having fun. It is especially important for primary school children to have these experiences. Life Sciences course contents were also deemed suitable for the use of educational games. This study was conducted to determine the effect of using the educational game method in the life sciences course on students' academic success and attitudes. The research was conducted within the framework of quasi-experimental design, one of the quantitative research designs. The research was conducted in the 2022-2023 academic year with the participation of 65 students (Experimental Group = 33, Control Group = 32) from two different branches studying in the 3rd grade of a primary school affiliated with the Central Provincial Directorate of National Education in Kırşehir province. As a data collection tool; The healthy life unit academic achievement test (KR-20 = 0.91), consisting of 25 items with three options, and the life science course attitude scale (α =0.81) were used. Shapiro-Wilk test was used to determine whether the data conformed to normal distribution. It was desired to determine the difference in achievement and attitude between the experimental and control groups. Independent groups t-test was used to determine the difference in achievement, and Mann Whitney U test was used to determine the difference in attitude level. One Way ANOVA test was used to determine the level of relationship between success and attitude. According to the findings of the research, no significant difference (p = 0.338) was found between the experimental and control groups in terms of pre-test scores of academic success and attitude towards the course. No significant difference (p=0.489) was found between the experimental and control groups in terms of academic achievement level post-test scores. A significant difference (p=0.011) was found in favor of the experimental group after the post-test in terms of attitude levels. In terms of the relationship between success and attitude, a significant relationship (p = 0.001) was found between pre-test and post-test success and attitude in the experimental group. No significant relationship (p=0.586) was found between the pretest and posttest success and attitude levels of the control group. As a result of the research, it was concluded that teaching the life sciences course with the educational game method did not have any effect on the academic achievement of the students, but it had a positive effect on the attitude towards the course.