Developing an association with daily life test for 5th-grade science education: Propagation of light unit

Students’ difficulties associating science topics and concepts with daily life continue from primary school to university. This study aims to develop an open-ended test to determine the level of 5th-grade students’ associating the topics related to the “Propagation of Light” unit with daily life events. The study employs a mixed-methods research model incorporating both qualitative and quantitative methods for test development and validation. To examine the validity of the test, pilot application was applied to 20 students in 6th grade. Then, the test was used on 119 students in 5th grade for actual application of the test. As a result of the study, a valid and reliable “Propagation of Light” unit daily life association test (PoLDAT) consisting of 10 open-ended questions was developed. According to the findings obtained from applying the developed test, it is noteworthy that misconceptions are intense with partial understanding of the unit on the propagation of light. As a result, the PoLDAT will serve measurement and evaluation purposes and enable students to realize the relationship between science subjects and daily life events by activating their thinking processes.