Abstract:

Studies show that there are difficulties in learning the subject of acids and bases. For this reason, in the scope of the study, case studies which use daily life context are used to help students to establish the relation between acid-bases and daily life. In the content of the study, it was aimed to provide hands-on learning opportunities with performing experiments in the laboratory. It was thought that argument based science learning supported with authentic case studies would facilitate the students to learn the concepts of acid and base and support the development of their scientific process skills. The study aimed to investigate the effect of argumentation-based science teaching approach on 8th graders’ learning of the subject of acids and bases, their attitudes towards science class and their scientific process skills. The sample of the study consisted of 69 8th grade students from two different classes attending Science and Technology Course at a government school. The quasi-experimental research design which is one of the quantitative research designs was used in the content of the study. The experimental group was taught through Argumentation Based Science Learning Approach and the control group was taught through didactic teaching approach. The academic achievement test for the subject of acids and bases, Science Class Attitude Scale and Science Process Skills test were administered as pre-test prior to the application and post test following to the application. The results revealed that the argumentation based science teaching approach was more effective than the didactic teaching approach while learning the subject of acids and bases. The findings displayed that the academic achievement of the students taught with argumentation based approach was higher than the ones taught with didactic teaching approach. The findings of the study displayed that the Argumentation Based Science Learning Effect had no significant effect on students’ attitudes towards science class. But the approach had a significant effect on students’ science process skills.

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