The effect of teaching the force and energy unit of secondary school 7th grade science with concept cartoons on students' conceptual understanding and academic achievements

Today, with sharply developing information, there have been changes in the understanding of education. Now, students can actively participate in teaching processes, querstionfacts and constitute information. Science education is of great importance in acquiring these features. One of the techniques used in science education is concept cartoons. In this study; it is aimed to determine the effect of teaching the force and energy unit of secondary school 7th grade science lesson with concept cartoons on students' academic achievement and concept learning. The sample of this research consist of 20 7th grade students studying at a state secondary school in Konya province Cihanbeyli district. In the study, a control group pretest posttest design from the quasi experimental research model, which is one of the quantitative research methods, was used. Easily accessible sampling method was used in sample selection. "Force and Motion Academic Achievement Test" and "Force and Motion Subject Concept Test" prepared by Kınık Topalsan (2015) were used as data collection tools. Before starting the study, students' pre-knowledge and levels of concepts were revealed by applying the achievement test and the concept test as a pretest. The control group was given a 5 (five) week education according to the science curriculum and the experimental group was given a 5 (five) week education by supporting the curriculum with concept cartoons. After the end of the five-week teaching, the tests applied before the teaching were applied to the students again as a post-test. As a results of the analysis of the data obtained from the study, statistically significant results were found between both the academic achievement scores and the comprehension test scores of the control and experimental groups. In the study, it was concluded that the use of concept cartoons while teaching the subject of "Force and Energy" increased academic success more in the courses taught according to the science curriculum and had a positive effect on students' concept learning. Key Words: Concept Cartoon, Concept Learning, Academic Succes, Concept.