The influence of using concept maps on students'academic achievements while teaching Periodic Table in 8th grade Science and Technology course

The purpose of this study is to investigate the influence of using concept maps on students' academic achievements while teaching the Periodic Table topics in 8th grade Science and Technology course.The study group of research consisted of secondary school students who are attending 8th grade in Saraycık Secondary School in Eşme-Uşak. The study employs an experimental reserch design. It places experimental group of 19 and a control group of 18 students. The process of practice took 8 hours. In experimental group the relevant topics were tought through concept maps to develop skills on periodic table. On the other hand the control group was tought trough ordinary methods and materials. An Academic achievement test developed by the resercher was utilized as a data collection tool. It was applied to both experimental and control group before and after the experimental process. The data was analyzed by means of SPSS 19.The results indicated that students in experimental group have higher achievements on periodic table than those of control group. It was thought that this study will guide for future researchers and help the understanding of the significance of concept maps. Key Words: Science Teaching, Concept Maps, Periodic Table, Academic Success