Investigation of effectiveness of inquiry based activities based on authentic learning approaches on 5th grade students' academic achievement and creative problem solving skills

In this study, it is aimed to investigate the effects of research and inquiry based activities based on authentic learning approach, on the academic achievement of fifth grade students, the effects on creative problem solving properties of the students and the student's views about the application and the authentic evaluation process. Authentic learning is a learning method with interdisciplinary and cooperative authentic tasks, activities and evaluations those requiring high level thinking skills. It makes learning possible with the aim of finding solutions to real world problems. The research is based on the embedded design within the mixed research methods. The research group consists of 21 fifth grade students; seven of them are girls and fourteen of them are boys; from a private middle school in Istanbul. The application was conducted in the 2018–2019 academic year. The academic achievement test of "Propagation of Light" unit and the creative problem solving properties inventory was applied before and after the application as a pre-test and post-test. At the end of the application the semi-structured interviews were conducted with five students. In addition to the all data above, the portfolio of the students which icludes the activity papers, self and peer evaluation forms and the products of authentic activities are used as data. The data of the study were analyzed with a statistical program. The "Wilcoxon Signed Rank Test" from non-parametric tests was used for the "Propagation of Light" unit's academic achievement test. The "Dependent (Associated) Groups t Test" from parametric tests, was used for the analysis of the creative problem solving properties inventory. "Pearson's Moments Multiplication Correlation Coefficient" and "Spearman's Rank Correlation Coefficient" were used for the analysis of the self and peer assessment forms. For the evaluation of the semi-structured interview forms and the activity papers in the student's portfolios, content analysis method was used. The "Authentic Task Product Rubric" created by the researcher was used for the evaluation of the products created by them at the end of the authentic tasks. In the last week of the work plan an exhibition of "Authentic Fest" organized and the students presented all the products. The "Authentic Task Presentation Rubric" created by the researcher was used for the evaluation of the presentations of the students. According to the findings of this research; the research and inquiry based activities based on authentic learning, affect students' academic success and creative problem solving skills positively. When it is examined whether there is a relationship between the self-assessment scores and the peer assessment scores of the students; no statistically significant difference is found for the authentic tasks of "Periscope Design", "Amusement Park Problem" and "Spot Lamp Problem". For the same evaluation of the "Shadow Play Design" activity a statistically significant and strong relationship was found. When the activity papers and students' views about the application are examined, it is concluded that the opinions of the students about the authentic learning process are positive. Suggestions are made for the new researchers about authentic learning. Keywords: Science Education, Authentic Learning, Authentic Evaluation, Research and Inquiry Based Learning, Academic Success, Creative Problem Solving Properties, Propagation of Light.