The effect of game-based learning method on students' success and attitudes towards the Turkish course

The aim of this study is to investigate the effect of game-based learning on 6th-grade students' academic achievement and attitudes towards the Turkish course. In this respect, the daily teaching plans of the 6th-grade Turkish course subject "Structure of Words" were prepared to include game-based learning activities. In the implementation process, educational computer games were used as educational materials. This study was carried out in line with the mixed method in which both quantitative and qualitative research methods were used. In the quantitative part of the study, a quasi-experimental design with the pre-test and post-test control group was used among experimental research methods. Observation and semi-structured interviews were used as qualitative research methods. The results obtained by quantitative methods were supported with the qualitative data. In this study, which was conducted in a public school in the city center of Aksaray in the spring term of the 2018-2019 academic year, the experimental and control groups were randomly selected from 6th-grade students in the school. The population of this study consists of 52 students in total, 26 in the experimental group and 26 in the control group (N=53). The achievement test prepared by the researcher and the attitude scale developed by EARGED were applied to the students before and after the teaching activities. The demographic information form, which was prepared by the researcher, was applied to the students before the study in order to collect the demographic information of the students. After the study, interviews were conducted with randomly selected students among the experimental group students using semi-structured interview forms prepared by the researcher. While the Turkish course was taught by using the game-based learning method in the course of the application with the experimental group students, the control group students received education according to the 6th-grade Turkish course teaching plan determined by the Ministry of National Education in this process. The data obtained at the end of the application period that covered 6 weeks were analyzed by SPSS software. First of all, the results of all tests collected from the students were analyzed using the Kolmogorov-Smirnov and Shapiro-Wilks tests. After the tests were found to have a normal distribution, the t-test was used for intra-group and inter-group analyses. As a result of the analyses, no statistically significant difference was found between the experimental and control group students in the achievement and permanence test results. On the other hand, a statistically significant difference was found in favor of the experimental group students in the attitude test results. Furthermore, it was observed that demographic features, especially the gender factor, had no effect on students' academic achievement and attitudes towards the course.