Effects of Curriculum Layered and Creative Drama Methods on 6th Grade “Force and Motion” Unit on Achievement, Attitude and Retention

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to compare layered curriculum and creative drama methods on ‘Force and Motion’ unit of Science and Technology at 6th grade course, for the academic achievement, attitude towards Science and Technology courses and the effects of retention of knowledge; and to determine which method is more effective experimentally. The other aim of this study was to reveal students’ opinions related to both methods. In this sense, mixed method strategy with combination of quantitative and qualitative data was used in this study.

The research was conducted on 44 students who were attending on 6th classrooms in a primary school placed in south Antalya, in 2011-2012 academic year. In this study, one experimental and one comparison group was constructed. The subjects were taught with creative drama method in I. and with layered curriculum method in II. comparison group. In this research, the quantitative data was collected by using achievement test, the attitude scale and learning scale inventory; qualitative data was collected by using observation forms, process evaluation and semi-structured interviews. Data were collected on both quantitative and qualitative methods , and analyzed by using SPSS program (frequency and percentage calculations, ANCOVA) and qualitative analysis method (coding, thematization) respectively.

According to results of the study, both of creative drama and layered curriculum methods have positive effects on academic achievement and retention of knowledge. It was determined that the academic achievement of experimental group of creative drama was higher than the comparison group of layered curriculum. However, it was concluded that both of these methods hadn’t any statistically significant effect on the students attitude towards Science and Technology course, it had seen an significant increase in interest of students, according to information obtained from qualitative data collection tools.