The effect of jigsaw technique on 6th graders' learning of force and motion unit and their science attitudes and motivation

Science lessons (physics, chemistry and biology) carry great importance in an individual’s interpretation of daily life and the events taking place around him. The purpose of these lessons is to make the individual literate in science and allow him to use the information he learns in these lessons in the problems experienced in daily life. However, although students start taking these science lessons from the early ages, they experience problems in putting the information they learn to use. One of the reasons is that science lessons consist of abstract concepts. Physics lessons as the other science lessons mostly consist of abstract concepts and require students to have the ability to form cause and effect relationships and express relationships between concepts in mathematical processes as well. All these make it difficult for students to understand subjects related to physics and cause them to have negative attitudes towards these lessons.

Learning about subjects related to physics is frequently defined as “difficult” by teachers and students (Jimoyiannis & Komis, 2001). “Force and Motion” is one of the subjects students have difficulty in understanding. The events related to force and motion appear quite often before students in daily life (Tao & Gunstone, 1999). The concept of force is one of the basic concepts in physics (Neumann, Fulmer, & Liang). Alonzo and Steedle (2009), Kikas (2004), Eryılmaz (2002), and (Bao, Hogg & Zollman, 2002) have shown in their studies that students experience numerous difficulties in understanding the subject of force and motion. Studies in literature show that students have many different misconceptions about subjects related to force and motion. These misconceptions about this subject are not only seen in lower class students, but in students of higher-education level as well. For instance, Eryılmaz (2002) did research on high-school physics students' achievements and misconceptions related to the subject and displayed that they had many misconceptions related to force and motion. Similarly, Hart (2002) in his study has shown that students mix up concepts such as force, balancing force, gravity and frictional force. The studies which analyze students’ misconceptions about force and motion are not limited to these. In the same manner, Joung (2009), Özsevgeç (2006), Macaroğlu Akgül and Şentürk (2001) have conducted studies on students’ misconceptions about this subject.

As it can be seen in studies in literature, force and motion is a subject students have difficulty in understanding in each of level of their educational life. The forming of concepts related to this subject begins in 6th grade. Therefore, 6th grade has an important place in students’ learning about the basic concepts related to this subject. However, certain teaching methods play an important role as well in terms of students’ experiencing various difficulties in understanding some subjects. Today, while studies on education emphasize the need for active learning environments, the traditional teaching method in which the teachers are active is still being used. In traditional learning environments, students sit passively, take the given information and the lecture is still the focus of the instruction (McCarthy & Anderson, 2000). Traditional teaching environments are focused on the content of the lesson and they are teacher centered (Effandi & Zanaton, 2007). In these environments students are passive listeners and they don't participate in active learning experiences (Schroeder, Scott, Tolson, Huang & Lee, 2007). According to Effandi and Zanaton (2007), the quality of education is directly related to the activities teachers prefer in their classes. The main reason why students experience difficulties in understanding abstract science concepts are the traditional methods which are teacher centered. Since the traditional teaching methods do not allow students to actively participate and to have experiences, students are either not able to understand the concepts, or develop certain misconceptions. The traditional method is primarily based on the teacher’s lecture throughout the lesson. Generally, the teacher explains the subject and tries to make the students participate by asking occasional questions. In such an environment, it is not possible for students to have discussions or carry out any research. Out of all the answers given to the questions, only the correct ones are given importance to. In the teacher centered approach, the teachers try to transmit the model they have on their minds to the students. The teacher decides how to manage the process beforehand and continues to teach in line with this plan. These characteristics of traditional methods make it difficult for students to understand concepts (Hsu, 2008; Kaya, 2007).

Karacop and Doymuş (2013) considering the insufficiency of the traditional teaching method state that in teaching abstract science concepts, teachers need to use alternative teaching methods. Cognitive approach is based on the idea that information is structured by the individual through mental diagrams (Looi, Lin, & Liu, 2008). Therefore, transmitting ready information to students does not allow them to learn. In curricula prepared in parallel with the constructive approach, teaching methods which take cooperation as the basis come to the fore (Jones & Brader-Araje, 2002). With the constructive approach, there has been a transition from the teacher centered learning environments to student centered environments in which students work in small groups.

In the related studies in literature, cooperative learning is defined as a learning approach in which students work in small groups to carry out an academic assignment (Doymuş, 2008; O'Leary and Griggs, 2010; Cooper and Muecke, 1990). Cooperative learning provides many benefits for students, such us developing discussion abilities in a group and developing their study habits (Doymuş, 2007). In cooperative learning, the students work in groups and they are aware of the importance of sharing responsibility for completing a task (Gillies, 2004). Hijzen, Boekaerts and Vedder (2007) state that students learn from their group members' abilities in cooperative learning settings and cooperative learning increases students' motivation for learning.

Cooperative learning methods are various and one of these is the jigsaw technique. The jigsaw learning technique which is a well determined cooperative learning method which allows students to work in groups easily (Hanze & Berger, 2007). Aranson, Stephen, Sikes, Blaney and Snapp (1978) developed the jigsaw cooperative learning technique (Karacop & Doymuş, 2013). Effandi and Zanaton (2007) define the jigsaw method as a cooperative method in which the students are responsible for each other’s learning. The implementation of the jigsaw technique is given below as stated in the literature (O'Leary & Griggs, 2010, Heeden, 2003; Looi, Lin, & Liu, 2008; Tarhan & Sesen, 2012; Doymuş, 2007; Doymuş, 2008; Karacop & Doymuş, 2013):

Students are divided into heterogeneous groups with 3 to 7 members. These groups are called "home groups". The teacher divides learning material into sub-topics considering the instructional aims and gives information related to the implementation of the jigsaw technique. Following the determination of the subtopics, each of the students in home groups chooses a subtopic. His/her duty is to learn the subtopic like an expert and s/he is responsible for teaching his/her subtopic to the rest of the group. Then, the students who choose the same subtopic meet in a group called "the jigsaw group". In the jigsaw groups, they work and have discussions together and learn their subject. After working together, they become ready to teach the subtopic to the members of their home groups. Finally, each member of the home groups teaches his/her subtopic to the rest of his/her group and make sure that they learn properly.

The jigsaw technique provides many benefits for students. According to Karacop and Doymuş (2013), it increases students' participation in learning and encourages them to make their own explanations. Also, the students assume their group members' responsibility and try to teach his/her own material to the group (Doymuş, 2008; Tarhan & Sesen, 2012; Lai and Wu, 2006). Literature research (Colosi & Zales, 1998; Doymuş, 2008; Lindquist, 1997; Charania, 2001) displays that the jigsaw technique develops students’ communication and higher level thinking skills and improves their learning and self-confidence. In the jigsaw applications carried out different areas, it has been seen that there has been an increase in students’ learning level. For example, Doymuş (2007), studied the effect of the jigsaw cooperative learning method on undergraduate chemistry students' learning of phase diagrams. The results of his study displayed that students in the jigsaw group were more successful than the students in the traditional lecture group while learning the subject. Also Doymuş (2008) also compared the effect of cooperative learning (jigsaw) with individual learning methods on students’ understanding of chemical equilibrium. The results displayed that the jigsaw group was more successful than the other group. Similarly, Colosi and Zales (1998) used the jigsaw technique to bring cooperative learning into lab sessions. They state that cooperative learning provides an equal participation opportunity for students. Kılıç (2008) studied the effects of the jigsaw technique on students' academic performance on the learning of the concepts in the Principles and Methods of Teaching Course. The findings of the study revealed that when compared with the traditional method, the jigsaw technique affected students' academic achievement positively.

As it can be seen from the studies in literature, the jigsaw technique increases students’ level of learning. Taking into consideration the aforementioned benefits, it is being regarded that the implementation of the jigsaw method in the 6th grade where the “force and motion” subject which the students have difficulty in understanding and have various misconceptions is taught for the first time, will have positive contributions to the students. For this purpose, a jigsaw application has been carried out.

Aim of the Study

The study aims to investigate the effects of jigsaw technique on 6th graders’ learning of the “Force and Motion” unit, their science learning motivation and their attitudes towards science class. On the basis of this aim, the following research questions were prepared:

Does the jigsaw technique make significant differences in students’ academic achievement in the “Force and Motion” unit?
Does the jigsaw technique make significant differences in students’ science learning motivation?
Does the jigsaw technique make significant differences in students’ attitudes towards science class?