Investigation of the effectiveness of authentic learning approach in primary school 3rd grade science course

The aim of this research is to examine the effectiveness of authentic learning in primary school third grade science course. In this context, in the research process, "Does the authentic learning approach have an effect on the unit of Journey to the World of Living Beings in the primary school science lesson?" search for an answer to the question. Quasi-experimental design constitutes the quantitative part of this study, in which the embedded mixed design is used, and the qualitative part is phenomenology. There are 40 students, 20 in the control and 20 in the experimental class. In the first stage, the Academic Achievement Test of the Journey to the World of Living Unit and the Attitude Scale towards Science were administered to all students as a pre-test. While the lessons were taught with the authentic learning approach in the experimental class, the teacher in the control class taught his lessons in accordance with the 3rd grade Science Textbook. After an authentic application period of approximately 6 weeks, the same tools were applied as a post-test. After a certain period of time after the post-test application, the same tests were re-administered in both groups and permanence was monitored. In addition, after the application, some of the students were interviewed and their opinions about the authentic applications were taken. After the data collection process was completed, analyzes were made with the SPSS25 program for quantitative data. The t-test was applied to compare the levels of the pretest-posttest and experimental-control groups with each other. In addition, analysis was performed with ANOVA to monitor persistence. Content analysis was used in the analysis of qualitative data. According to the findings obtained from the research, no significant difference was found between the experimental and control group students in terms of academic achievement levels. However, self-learning occurred in both groups and the increase in scores in the experimental class was higher than in the control. When we look at their attitudes towards science, a significant difference was found in favor of the students in the experimental group. In the permanence test, it was observed that while permanence continued in the experimental group students, it did not continue in the control group students. According to the data obtained from the interview form, students mostly expressed positive opinions about authentic learning practices.