The effects of using creative drama in science education on students' achievements and scientific process skills

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of creative drama-based instruction on fifth graders' science achievements in the light and sound unit and scientific process skills. This quasi-experimental research was conducted in one of the public elementary schools in Turkey during 2009-2010 academic year. A light and sound achievement test was developed and administered to randomly selected 60 students. The experimental group was instructed through creative drama-based implications and the control group was never exposed to creative drama. An instruction material including five lesson plans was constructed for the leader to administer creative drama-based instruction. The unit was instructed to each group for three weeks. A science achievement test and a scientific process skills test were administered to each group as pre-post test. An independent sample t-test revealed that there were significant differences in the means of creative drama applications, science achievement and scientific process skills.