Asia-Pacific Forum on Science Learning and Teaching, Volume 18, Issue 1, Article 2 (Jun., 2017) Hülya ASLAN EFE The effects of using diorama on 7th grade students’ academic achievement and science learning skills Previous Contents Next

Findings

In this section, firstly, the pre- and post-test results for academic achievement in the control and experimental group for “human and environmental relationship” unit is provided. Table II shows  that there were statistically significant differences between pre- and post-tests results for the experimental group (p<.05). This result shows that the students in the experimental group where the diorama-assisted teaching method is applied for four weeks are successful. This indicates that the use of dioramas in science teaching has contributed to student success.

Table II. The comparison of the control and experimental groups pre-test and post-tests results

Groups	Variable	N	X̄	SD	Results
Experimental Experimental	Pre- test Post- test	25 25	13.44 20.72	4.950 3.702	t: -5.176 sig: .000* p<0.05
Control Control	Pre- test Post- test	24 24	12.37 15.37	4.753 4.856	t: -3.578 sig: .002* p<.05

Table II shows that there is a statistically significant difference between pre-test and post-test scores in the control group where traditional teaching method was employed for the "human and environmental associations" unit (p<.05).

This result shows that the students in the control group who were taught with the traditional, teacher centred learning method for four weeks are successful. This can be considered to be due to the expectation of progress at a certain level in the students’ achievement at the end of the program, whichever teaching method is used in the teaching process.

Table III. The comparison of the control and experimental group students’ post-test scores of academic achievement tests

Group	N	X̄	SD	Results
Control	24	15.37	4.861	t: -4.341 sig: .000* p<.05
Experiment	25	20.72	3.702

Table III demonstrates that there is statistically a significant difference between post test achievement scores of control and experiment group students (p <.05). This result shows that students in the experimental group with diorama-assisted science teaching were significantly more successful than the students in the control group.

Table IV. The comparison of the control and experimental group students’ post-test scores of academic achievement tests

Gender	N	X̄	SD	Results
Female	20	18.35	5.575	t: .283 sig: .779 p>0.05
Male	29	17.93	4.742

According to Table IV, there is no significant difference in gender between the post- test scores of control and experimental group students (p>.05).

Table V. The comparison of the control and experimental groups’ pre- and post- science learning skills scores

Groups	Variable	N	X̄	SD	Results
Experimental Experimental	Pre-test Post-test	25 25	4.11 4.55	.573 .295	t: -3.412 sig: .001* p<0.05
Control Control	Pre- test Post- test	24 24	3.93 3.80	.505 .528	t: .838 sig: .407 p<0.05

In the table V, the control and experimental groups pre and post science learning skills results for the “human and environmental associations” are compared. The table shows that the students taught through the dioramas for six weeks were more successful in comparison the control group who were taught by traditional teaching method. The results show a statistically significant difference between the pre- and post- test results of the experimental group (p<.05). This cannot be said for the control group as the pre- and post- test results does not reveal a statistically significant difference (p>.05).

Table VI. The comparison of the control and experimental groups based on the post- test results for science learning skills.

Group	N	X̄	SD	Result
Control group	24	3.80	.528	t: -6.150 sig: 0.00* p<0.05
Experimental group	25	4.55	.295

The comparison of the control and experimental groups’ post test results for science learning skills (Table VI) reveals a statistically significant difference between the groups (p<.05). The higher mean scores for the experimental group students can be described as the affect of using dioramas during the instruction process.

Table VII. The comparison of the control and the experimental groups’ post -test results for science learning skills based on gender

Gender	N	X̄	SD	Result
Female	20	4.31	.556	t: 1.328 sig: .191 p>0.05
Male	29	4.10	.565

The analysis of the findings did not reveal any statistically significant difference (p>.05) between the two genders in terms of their post- test scores for science learning skills (Table VII).