Abstract:

The study aimed at determining the effect of the jigsaw method on the 9th grade students’ attitude towards history course and their views on the method. In the study, experimental design with pre-test and post-test control group was employed. The study was carried out with the participation of 88 9th grade students who were studying at a secondary school in Of District of the Province of Trabzon in Turkey. The data were obtained through history course attitude scale and open-ended questionnaire form. SPSS 22.0 software was used for the analysis of quantitative data, while content analysis was utilized for the analysis of qualitative data. The study results show that there was no significant difference between the attitudes of the experimental group and the control group towards history course before the implementation, whereas after the implementation a positive change in the attitudes of both groups towards history course was observed. However, it was found that the average of post-test history course attitude scores of the jigsaw group was significantly higher than that of the control group. When the findings of the study were considered, it was determined that the jigsaw method had a significant role in increasing the students’ attitudes towards history course in a positive way. It was understood from the qualitative findings that the jigsaw method increased the students’ motivation to study, facilitated their learning, provided detailed and permanent learning, improved their relationship with friends and helped them socialize.

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