Effectiveness of context-based learning approach in secondary school science course

New approaches used in science teaching support more permanent and meaningful learning by adopting a student-centered approach. One of the new approaches used in science teaching is context-based learning. Context-based learning is a teaching method that provides learning in accordance with the level of students from examples taken from daily life and understanding the subjects by associating classroom activities with real-world problems. A learning environment is created that will require students to access information by presenting contexts from daily life. The aim of this research is to investigate the effectiveness of context-based teaching in the 6th grade science course. In the unit "Sound and Its Properties", context-based teaching was carried out, and the effects of context-based learning on academic achievement, interest in science subjects and anxiety towards science were examined. In the study, a quasi-experimental design with pretest-posttest control group was used. The study group of the research consists of 36 6th grade students in two branches selected from a secondary school in Patnos district of Ağrı province in the 2021-2022 academic year. While 20 students in the experimental group were taught with context-based learning activities prepared according to the REACT model by the researcher for six weeks, 16 students in the control group were taught with the activities in the textbook. As data collection tools in the study, "Sound and Characteristics Unit Achievement Test" developed by Aksoy and Özcan (2020), "Interest Scale for Science Subjects" developed by Şimşek and Nuhoğlu (2013), and "Science Scale" developed by Uluçınar Sağır (2014), "Axiety Scale" was used. SPSS 22 statistical package program was used in the analysis of the study. Parametric tests were applied to the normally distributed data. In the research, context-based learning; It was found that it had a positive effect on students' academic achievement (t34=5.089; p=0.000) and interest in science (t34=2.901; p=0.006), but it had no effect on science anxiety (t34=-1.129; p>0.05). Science is a course that includes subjects from life. The fact that students see the examples they encounter in daily life as problems in the lesson increases the clarity of the lesson and the interest in the lesson. The effectiveness of context-based learning can be investigated for different variables at different unit and grade levels.