USING 3-DIMENSIONAL MODELS AS TEACHING TOOLS IN SCIENCE EDUCATION FOR PRIMARY SCHOOL STUDENTS

This research aims to identify the concepts that elementary school students struggle to understand in their science classes and to overcome these difficulties by utilizing a design thinking model. Specifically, the impact of instructional methods based on the use of 3D models on students' academic achievements has been examined. The study adopted a mixed method approach. The sample of the research consists of 3rd grade (N=31) and 4th grade (N=29) students attending an elementary school in Trabzon. This study used a mixed-method research design. Before using the final 3D models in the lessons, a "Concept Achievement Test" consisting of 10 questions each was administered as a pre-test to the students. One week after the pre-tests were administered, lessons were given using the final 3D models developed by the researchers. These models were used interactively with the students in the classroom environment for two class hours. Three days after this interactive lesson process using the models, post-tests were administered to evaluate the learning levels of the students. Comparison of the pre-test and post-test results revealed a statistically significant improvement in favor of the post-test for both 3rd grade (t(sd)=-5.005; p