AN OVERVIEW OF FINE ARTS HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS' CONCEPTUAL UNDERSTANDING LEVELS ON THE SUBJECT OF ‘LIQUIDS’ THROUGH THE ACTIVITIES OF CONCEPT CARTOONS

Abstract

Students tend to consider “Chemistry” as a course difficult to perceive. In order to eliminate this perception, we thought that it would be important to use concept cartoons activities that include interesting and entertaining elements in line with the abilities of the students. From this point of view, the study aims to investigate the effect of the concept cartoons in teaching "Liquids" unit on the level of conceptual understanding of the ninth-grade students. The participants of the study included 29 students who were enrolled in a Fine Arts High School in the Aegean Region. The study was designed according to one group pre-test/post-test modeling. Concept Cartoons Conceptual Understanding Test (CCCUT), Scenario Drawings (SD) and semi-structured interview were used as data collection tools. The findings of the study revealed that activities based on concept cartoons made a significant difference in students' conceptual understanding levels. Besides, as a result of the interviews, we established that the concept cartoons are interesting, increase motivation, create a discussion environment and encourage students to think came to the fore. Consequently, positive views emerged that concept cartoons provide benefits in many respects and should be used in courses.

Keywords: Concept cartoons, conceptual understanding level, scenario drawings, liquids, fine arts, high school students.

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