Abstract:

The subject of this research is to determine the existing mental structure of students regarding the concepts of museum and art. In line with this problem, the aim of the research is to determine the cognitive structures of primary school students regarding the concepts of museum and art within the framework of cultural heritage learning domain. The students in the study group of the research were randomly selected according to the purposeful sampling type. Accordingly, 150 students among the primary school 2nd, 3rd and 4th grade students voluntarily participated in the research. The data of the study were collected in two ways. In the first stage, students were asked to write ten concepts that correspond to the concepts of museum and art in their minds and a sentence to explain these expressions using a word association test. In the second stage, the students were asked to draw a picture about the concepts of museum and art. The visual data obtained here were collected in order to support the answers given by the students in the first stage. The data obtained as a result of the first stage were analysed by descriptive analysis and the visual data obtained at the end of the second stage were analysed by semiotic analysis. According to the results of the research, the concept of "museum" was associated with the word "antiquities" in the highest number, and the concept of "art" was associated with the word "painting" most frequently. It is seen that the visual expressions that come to life in the minds of the students in response to the concepts of "museum" and "art" are in a similar direction with their verbal expressions.

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