Abstract:

The purpose of this study is to examine the usability of Context-based ARCS Instructional Model on secondary school chemistry teaching. For this purpose the effects of learning through Context-based ARCS Instructional Model on the retention of knowledge, students’ motivation and attitude towards chemistry have been investigated. An instrumental case study has been utilized as the research method to teach the unit “Chemistry in Our Lives” in the 9th grade high school chemistry curriculum through Context-based ARCS Instructional Model. The sample of the study is composed of totally 60 ninth grade students from two different classes in a high school in Erzurum. The sample has been selected by convenience sampling method. Data have been collected through “Attitude Towards Chemistry Scale [ATCS]”; “Instructional Materials Motivation Survey [IMMS]”, “Constructivist Learning Environment Survey [CLES]”, “Achievement Test [AT]” have been developed by the researchers and semi-structured interviews. The data for IMMS, CLES and AT have been analyzed through descriptive statistics and results were presented as mean, standard deviation and charts. ATCS test has been analyzed by dependent sample t-test to see whether there is a significant difference between pre and post-tests scores. Semi-structured interviews have been subjected to content analysis and the results are presented as descriptively. The results show that the method used has increased the retention of learning and students’ motivation but has not had a statistically significant impact on students’ attitudes towards chemistry. In addition, it has been seen that students perceive classroom milieu as a constructivist learning environment.

Keywords: