The effect of using 3D printer in social studies education on students' motivation, attitude and success

In this study, it was aimed to determine the effect of using three dimensional printers in social studies teaching on the motivation, attitude and success of fifth grade students. The research was carried out using a quasi-experimental design with pre-test post-test paired control group design, which is one of the quantitative research methods. The study group of the research consists of fifty two students in a public school in the city center of Kütahya. Control group (N=26) and experimental group (N=26) were determined in the study. Research applications were completed in four weeks and ten course hours in the "Journey to the Past" unit in the "Culture and Heritage" learning area in the fifth grade social studies course of the 2022-2023 academic year. The data of the research were collected using the "4th and 5th Grade Social Studies Course Motivation Scale" developed by Tahiroğlu and Aktepe (2015), the "Social Studies Course Attitude Scale" developed by Çetinkaya and Hatay Uçar (2019) and the "Ancient Civilizations Achievement Test" created by the researcher. In the analysis of the data obtained, descriptive statistics and Mann-Whitney U test were used. According to the results of the analysis, it has been determined that the use of the teaching materials obtained from the three dimensional printer in the social studies course has a significant positive effect on the motivation and success of the students studying at the fifth grade level of secondary school. Although the students' attitude scores increased positively as a result of the application, this increase was not at a significant level. Keywords: Attitude, Motivation, Social Studies Teaching, Success, Three Dimensional Printer