The effect of supported life-based teaching practices in Popular Science Journals on academic achievement: The example of the solar system and eclipses unit

It is observed that the teaching activities applied for the primary education program are insufficient for the academic success of the students in solving life-based questions. Based on these inadequacies, in this study, we examined the effect of science teaching using popular science journals on academic success by using life-based questions selected from daily life. We carried out the research in a secondary school located in Gebze district, Kocaeli province of Turkey, in the spring term of the 2020 - 2021 academic year. The sample of the study, in which the quasi-experimental method was used, consists of 50 students selected from 4 different branches studying in public schools. We conducted the study in 5 weeks as 10 lesson hours considering the pandemic conditions. An academic achievement test consisting of life-based questions constitutes quantitative data in the research. Before the research, we applied a pre-test to the students in the experimental and control groups. At the end of the application, we post-tested all groups and analyzed the data. We analyzed the data obtained from the post-test application using the independent t-test in the SPSS program. In the study results, the final test showed that there was a significant difference between the groups. According to the study, we concluded that science teaching supported by popular science magazines positively affected academic success on life-based questions about the 6th-grade solar system and eclipses. Moreover, we observed that the conceptual understanding levels of the experimental group students about the solar system and beyond also increased at the end of the instruction. Since some of the activities in the textbooks are thought to be insufficient in examples from daily life, it is thought that teachers' use of resources that contain life-like examples such as popular science magazines used in the course will contribute to academic success. Keywords :Science education, solar system eclipses, popular science journal, life-based questions.