The effects of digital animation technology on the academic achievement and spatial perception of middle school students

The learning model based on visual and auditory elements, which reflects the modern education process, plays an important role in taking students' readiness levels to the highest levels by directly penetrating their innovative and creative thinking skills. Therefore, the aim is to determine the effects of digital animation technology, an essential instrument of digital media, on students' academic achievements and spatial perceptions within the scope of the "Journey to History" unit of the social studies course. In addition, the sub-goals include revealing whether there is a relationship between academic success and spatial perception and whether academic success is a predictor of spatial perception. This research was conducted with a quantitative research paradigm and a quasi-experimental design with a pretest/posttest control group, which is a type of experimental research, was applied. The sample consists of a total of 82 students (EG1=30, EG2=24, CG=28) studying in a secondary school in Türkiye. Research data were collected through the academic achievement test and spatial perception scale prepared and developed by the researcher himself. Analyzes of data was carried out using SPSS26, AMOS26 and EXCEL2016 software. It was determined that there was no statistically significant difference in the pretest academic achievement at the level of all groups, but there was a significant difference in the posttest in favor of the experimental group. In addition, a positive development was detected in the spatial perception of the students in the experimental group towards animation. It was found that there was a positive correlation between the posttest of the experimental groups and the spatial perception scale applied with the posttest. Also, the posttest of the experimental groups predicted the spatial perception scale applied with the posttest. As a result of the research; It has been observed that the learning method with animation technology has an increasing effect on students' academic achievement and a positive effect on their spatial perception.