The Impact of Digital Storytelling on the Academic Achievement and Democratic Attitude of Primary School Students

Abstract

The aim of this study is to explore the impact of digital storytelling (DST) on the academic achievement and democratic attitude of 4th-grade primary school students and to reveal their experiences in the DST process. The study was conducted with a mixed-method approach. The quantitative part of the study adopted a pretest and posttest quasi-experimental design with 30 students. In the qualitative part of the study, two focus group interviews were carried out with 15 students in the experimental group. The quantitative data was collected through an academic achievement test and a democratic attitude scale. The qualitative data was obtained through two focus group interviews. Descriptive analysis, t-test, and qualitative content analysis were used for evaluating data. Results revealed that the students in the experimental group performed significantly better than the students in the control group in terms of academic achievement and democratic attitude. Focus group interviews highlighted that DST is effective in promoting constructivist learning and lack of experience is the biggest problem in the DST process