The effect of multimedia-based applications in middle school Turkish courses on students' visual reading and media literacy skills

This research was conducted to determine the effect of multimedia-based applications in middle school Turkish lessons on students' visual reading and media literacy skills. A mixed-methods research approach was employed, employing an embedded design. In the quantitative dimension of the research, a quasi-experimental design with a pre-test-post-test control group model was preferred. The quantitative data collection instruments used were the Visual Reading Achievement Test, developed by the researcher, and the Media Literacy Level Determination Scale, developed by another researcher. The qualitative dimension of the research employed phenomenology, a type of qualitative research design. The qualitative data collection instrument used was a semi-structured interview form developed by the researcher. The study was conducted in a middle school in Gaziantep during the 2023-2024 academic year. Thirty-eight sixth-grade students were randomly selected to form the experimental and control groups. Multimedia-based applications and activities were developed using data from the literature and expert opinions. At the beginning of the implementation process, the Media Literacy Level Determination Scale Pre-test and the Visual Reading Achievement Pre-test were administered to both the experimental and control groups. At the end of the eight-week implementation process, the Media Literacy Level Determination Scale Post-test and the Visual Reading Achievement Post-test were administered to the same groups. At the end of the implementation process, the opinions of the experimental group regarding the process were obtained through a semi-structured interview form. Descriptive statistics, correlation, and dependent/independent samples t-tests were applied to obtain the quantitative data of the research. Data analysis was performed using the SPSS 22 software package. Data related to the qualitative dimension of the research were processed using content analysis. The evidence obtained revealed that multimedia-based applications in middle school Turkish lessons had a positive and significant effect on students' visual reading and media literacy skills, and that students developed positive opinions regarding multimedia activities.