The effects of using individual and group mind mapping on students' academic achievement, retention and affective characteristics in social studies course

This study aims at determining the effects of using individual and group mind mapping on students? academic achievement, permanence, attitudes and motivation in Social Studies Course. It was also aimed at determining students? perceptions of experimental process. The study was conducted on sixth grade students in Elazığ at İstiklal Elementary School during 2009-2010 academic year. The study included three groups; two experimental groups (experimental I and experimental II) and one control group. While experimental I group used individual mind mapping, experimental II group used group mind mapping. Control group used traditional teaching method. While experimental I group comprised of 25 students, experimental group II comprised of 24 students. Control group included 25 students. The unite entitled ?Our Country?s Sources? was used during teaching process in Social Studies Course.Both quantitative and qualitative research methods were used on this study. Research data were collected with achievement test, attitude and motivation scales, and interview and observation forms. The quantitative part of the study was conducted with experimental design involving pretest-posttest control group. In qualitative part of the study, students, selected from experimental groups, and teacher were interviewed after the experiment. Besides, observations were done during experimental process and learning diaries were regularly collected from the students every week.The achievement test prepared by researcher is composed of 64 questions. The mean difficulty of the test was calculated to be .57 and KR-20 reliability coefficient was measured to be .94. The five-point Likert- style attitude scale consisted of 29 items and included five sub-scales named liking, benefit, interest, desire and confidence. KMO value of the scale was measured to be .95; Bartlett?s test was measured to be 8.152 and Cronbach Alpha reliability coefficient was calculated to be .61. The motivation scale included 23 items. KMO value of the scale was measured to be .89, Bartlett?s test was calculated to be 4.395 and Cronbach Alpha reliability coefficient was calculated to be .79. Motivation scale consisted of three subscale named intrinsic motivation, extrinsic motivation and heeding. While SPSS.16 statistical program was used to analyze quantitative data, N-VIVO was used to analyze qualitative data.The study results revealed that experimental II group that used group mind mapping was more successful than the control group. No significant difference was found among the three groups in terms of retention. No statistically significant difference was found among the attitude scores of the groups. Attitude scores of the experimental I and experimental II groups were higher than that of control group. Attitude scores of experimental I group in interest subscale were higher than those of control group. It was determined that total motivation mean scores of the groups did not statistically differ, but there was a difference in favor of experimental I and experimental II groups in intrinsic motivation subscale.After the experimental process of both individual and group mind mapping, the qualitative results revealed seven themes. The themes were about how to do mind mapping; what needed for the process; the favorite sides, problems and benefits of process, affective result of the experiment and doing mind mapping again. The themes and codes showed that both quantitative and qualitative results of the study were in parallel with each other. Because similar results were obtained in both parts. It was offered that both individual and group mind mapping should be used more in the first and second stages of elementary education. By doing that, positive effects of mind mapping technique can be utilized more. It is also offered that studies covering more participants and longer periods should be conducted. Similar studies should also be conducted in different courses and subjects and studies based on computer assisted mind mapping should be conducted.Key Words: Mind mapping, individual mind mapping, group mind mappig, affective characteristics, motivation, attitude, perception, Social Studies.