Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
Participatory Educational Research, cilt.7, sa.3, ss.247-264, 2020 (Scopus)
This research aimed to examine the effect of authentic learning activities
on achievement in social studies and attitudes towards Geographic
Information System (GIS). To this end, it used an explanatory mixed
method design where both quantitative and qualitative data were
collected. The quantitative data were collected using an academic
achievement test and the Geographic Information Systems (GIS) Attitude
Scale developed by Baloğlu Uğurlu and the qualitative data were
collected using a semi-structured interview form. The research was
carried out in two fifth-grade sections in a middle school in Kırşehir
located in central Turkey during the fall semester of the 2019-2020
academic year. The study group consisted of 60 students, the half of
whom were in the control group and the other half were in the
experimental group. The experimental group was taught using authentic
learning activities, while the control group was taught using textbook
activities prepared in accordance with the social studies curriculum.
According to the results of the analysis of the quantitative data, there was
a significant difference in the test scores in favor of the experimental
group and there was a significant positive difference between the
experimental group’s mean pretest and posttest scores in the GIS Attitude
Scale. The results of the analysis of the qualitative data showed that the
students did not get bored with the social studies course, they were more
active during the classes and attended the course thanks to the activities
they did in the classroom, and they could see the landforms they had not
had the chance to see before and learned better thanks to the GIS
software. The research explores, for the first time, the effect of authentic
learning on GIS attitude.