The Effect of Teaching Methods on Vocational School Students' Achievement Levels in Chemistry

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to explore the effect of different teaching methods on students chemistry achievement and to analyze the relationship among the independent variables of the degree of logical thinking, previous learning in chemistry, attitude toward chemistry, instructional treatment and ÖSS (University Entrance Exam) scores and the dependent variable of the chemistry achievement. Because of this a "Solutions" subject was selected. 83 students at the Marmara University Vocational School of Allied Health Professions participated in this study. One of the three groups (Department of Radiology Technicians) was taught with traditional instruction (Instructional Treatment 1) (Gl). The second group (Department of Pathology Technicians) was taught with traditional instruction and more exams (Instructional Treatment 2) (G2). The last group (Department of Medical Laboratoiy Technicians) was taught with traditional instruction and laboratory experiments (Instructional Treatment 3)(G3). The Science Achievement Exam (SAE) (10 questions about solutions) was given to these three groupsbefore treatment to assess " Previous Learning" as a pretest. After 4 weeks of treatment the SAE was given to the groups again as a posttest. In addition to this, the Chemical Attitude Test and Logical Thinking Ability Test were given to the groups. Both F test and Tukey test were performed for difference of pretest and posttest scores of groups. As a result of analysis, it was revealed that there was a significant difference among the scores of the students taught with Instructional Treatment 3 (t=2,99 p<0,05). Each of the three independent variables (previous learning in chemistry, instructional treatment and ÖSS scores) and their combination made a significant contribution to the variation in chemistry achievement.