Investigation of secondary school students' attitudes towards the visual arts lesson and their studying habits

In this study, it is aimed to examine the relationship between the attitudes of 6th, 7th and 8th grade students studying in secondary school towards the visual arts lesson and their studying habits. In the related study, it was seen that an up-to-date method was needed in order to reach the expected level of attitude and studying habits in the field of visual arts, and some solution suggestions were presented. The universe of the study consists of students studying in official secondary schools in a medium-sized city in terms of population in the Southeastern Anatolia(Turkey) in the 2019-2020 academic year. The sample of the study consists of a total of 527 students, 229 girls and 298 boys, studying in the 6th, 7th and 8th grades of a secondary school in the same province. In the research, one of the quantitative research methods "general screening method" was used. In order to collect the necessary data, Visual Arts Attitude Scale, which is a 3 graded likert-type scale, and the Study Habits Scale, which is a 4 graded likert-type scale, were used. Research data analysis was created in SPSS 22 statistics program. Research findings were tested at .05 significance level. Shapiro-Wilk Normality Test was applied to determine whether the scales applied in the study showed normal distribution, and the reliability of the tests was calculated with the Cronbach Alpha Coefficient. The Cronbach Alpha reliability coefficient was calculated as .93 in the attitude scale and .79 in the study habits scale. In addition, ANOVA was used to determine the difference between the attitude and studying habits of the students according to their grade level, and Independent Sample t Test was used to determine the difference according to their gender. According to the analysis of the scale data; The relationship between the attitude and study habits of the sample group was examined and it was determined that there is a low level significant difference in the positive direction. It was observed that the students' attitude point average towards the visual arts course was at a medium level. It was concluded that the average score of students' studying habits was at a medium level in line with their attitude scores. When the attitude scores of the students according to their grade levels were examined, it was seen that a significant difference emerged. With the analysis made, it was determined that the attitude perception was ranked according to grade level as 6> 7> 8. When studying the study habits of students according to their class levels, it was seen that a significant difference emerged. According to the analysis, the order of the level of studying habits according to the grade level was found as 6> 8> 7. As a result of the analysis, it was seen that there was a significant difference in favor of female students between the attitudes of students according to their gender. When the study habits of the group according to the gender variable were examined, it was found that there was a significant difference in favor of female students. When the attitude levels of the students according to their pre-school education status were examined, it was found that there was a significant difference. When the study habits of students according to their pre-school education status were examined, it was found that there was no significant difference. As a result, all data show that there is no serious difference between the attitudes of secondary school students towards the visual arts course and their studying habits. It can be said that the higher rates for female students compared to male students are due to the greater interest in art activities among female students.