Analyzing the Effect of Concept Cartoon Usage on Students’ Cognitive Structures Developments and Science Achievements through Flow Maps

Abstract

In this study, the use of concept cartoons in a particle structure of matter unit was investigated using the flow map of 7th-grade students’ academic achievement. The development of their cognitive structures and thoughts about concept cartoons was analyzed. 27 experimental and 27 control group students who were studying in the 7th grade participated in this research. The model of the study was “pre-test post-test control group model” from the experimental research models. Achievement test and concept cartoons developed by the researcher were used as data collection tools. As a result of this research, it was found that there was a difference between the post-test average scores in favor of the experiment group. The cognitive structures of the students were analyzed by the flow map technique, and there was a significant difference between the pre-test and post-test mean scores of the control group in the obtained data, but there was no significant difference in the correctness parameter. In the experimental group, there was a significant difference in the mean scores of size, integratedness, correctness, and richness parameters. When the opinions of the students on the use of concept cartoon were examined, it was revealed that the cartoons were thoughtful, funny, deficient in information, and different from each other. When the literature was examined, no research investigated the effect of concept cartoons on the academic achievement and cognitive structures of students and tried to reveal the cognitive structures of learners in a concrete way using flow map, which makes this study important.

Keywords

• science teaching
• flow map
• cognitive structure
• concept cartoons
• misconceptions