The Effectiveness of Inquiry Based Activities Based on Authentic Learning Approach on 5th Grade Students' Academic Achievement and Creative Problem Solving Skills

Abstract

Turkish Science Curriculum for secondary school students is based on an inquiry-based learning approach with an interdisciplinary perspective. Authentic learning; is an interdisciplinary, collaborative, learning method with authentic tasks, activities and assessments that requires high-level thinking skills, aiming to find solutions to real-world problems. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of inquiry-based activities based on authentic learning approach on academic achievement and creative problem-solving skills of 5th grade students. The study group had 21 5th grade students in total, 7 of whom were girls and 14 were boys. The study group were students from a private school in Üsküdar, Istanbul Turkey in the 2018-2019 academic year. “The Propagation of Light” unit academic achievement test and the Creative Problem Solving Attribute Inventory were used as data collection tools. The data obtained in the study were analyzed using a statistical program. “Wilcoxon Signed Rank Test”, which is one of the non-parametric tests, was used in the analysis of the academic achievement test. In the analysis of the Creative Problem Solving Attribute Inventory, “Dependent Groups t-test”, which is one of the parametric tests, was used. In line with this analysis, it was concluded that the inquiry-based activities based on authentic learning approach affected students' academic achievement and creative problem-solving skills in a positive way. Suggestions were made based on the findings of the study.