The effect of creative drama method in primary school 3rd grade mathematics on the students' achievements, attitudes and retention of learning

In this study, it is aimed to investigate the effects of creative drama method on the success of students' achievements, attitudes and persistency of learning in the 3rd grade mathematics lesson Natural Number Addition topic. The research was carried out during the 2018-2019 academic year between two 3rd grade branches in Sultangazi District of Istanbul Province, which was selected as a neutral and they were equaly successful. In order to determine the similarity circumstances of the test groups and control groups, a pre-test was applied to these groups. The B students formed as the test group and the A students formed as the control group. The study was carried out with a total of 76 students, 38 students in the test group and 38 students in the control group. Within the content of the research, we discussed the Addition with Natural Numbers which is the sublearning topic of the "Numbers and Operations" in primary school 3rd grade maths lesson. Taking into account the six gains in the sub-learning area of the Addition of Natural Numbers, the lessons were conducted according to the creative drama lesson plans prepared by the researcher in the experimental group and the activities in the curriculum in the control group. In this study, which was performed by using pretest and posttest control group experimental design, datas were collected with multiple choice success test and attitude scales whose validity and reliability were completed. After the aproximately four weeks continued aplication, The Success Test which was prepared for the experimental and control groups and after the aplication same success test was applied as a Permanency Test. In addition, "Math Attitude Scale" developed by Baykul (1990) was used to examine the attitudes of students towards mathematics lesson before and after the practice. The data obtained from achievement test and attitude scales were analyzed with statistical program for social sciences in computer environment and comparisons between experimental and control groups were made. In order to test the sub-problems of the study, independent groups t-test was used to compare the experimental and control groups in terms of achievement test, attitude scale and retention test. According to the findings; It was concluded that there was a significant difference in favor of the experimental group between the means of achievement and retention test and attitude scale scores of the experimental group and the control group students who applied the creative drama method in the sub-learning field of mathematics course Natural Numbers Addition. In this study, it was observed that students had a lot of fun during drama studies, they participated in mathematics class with enthusiasm, academic achievement of mathematics class increased and students were able to create tolerant associations as a result of their interaction with their peers.