The effect of systems thınkıng approach on 6th grade students' academıc achıevement and systems thınkıng skılls

The purpose of this study is to examine the effect of systems thinking tools used in the teaching of the 6th grade Science course "Systems in Our Body and Health" unit on students' academic achievement and systems thinking skills. In the study, a mixed research design was adopted. A quasi-experimental with pretest-posttest control group design was used; in the qualitative manner, a case study design was used. Quantitative data were collected through the "Systems in Our Body and Health Unit Achievement Test"; qualitative data were collected through the "Systems Thinking Skills Questions in the Context of Adolescence". The study group consisted of two intact classes of 30 students. Data collected in the 2023-2024 academic year. In the experimental group, the lessons were taught with the 5E learning model with integrated systems thinking tools; in the control group, the lessons were taught only with the 5E learning model. Quantitative data were analyzed with ANOVA test in SPSS 25 program; qualitative data were evaluated according to a rubric developed. As a result of the research, the average academic achievement of the experimental group was higher; however, no statistically significant difference was found between the groups. The skill of "identifying the components and processes within the system", which corresponds to the analysis level, most of the students in both the experimental and control groups reached the highest level by identifying physical, emotional and social components. In the evaluations related to synthesis and implementation level skills, significant differences were obtained in favor of the experimental group in terms of three synthesis level skills (identifying simple relationships between components, organizing dynamic interactions, understanding cyclical structure) and one implementation level skill (thinking temporally: retrospection and prediction). On the other hand, the level of identifying dynamic interactions, making generalizations and recognizing hidden dimensions skills were similar in both groups. As a result, it was revealed that systems thinking skills are effective in understanding complex processes such as adolescence and the system thinking tools plays an important role in developing these skills. Keywords: 5E Learning Model, Science Education, Systems Thinking Approach, Systems Thinking Tools, Systems In Our Body and Health Unit