The Effects of Educational Game-Integrated Group Research Method on Academic Achievement, Attitude towards School, and Retention of Knowledge in Teaching Regulatory System

Abstract

The purpose of this research was to find out the effects of educational game-integrated group research method of “regulatory system” issue in 7th grade on students’ academic achievement, attitudes towards schools, and retention of knowledge. The sample of this study consisted of a total of 54 students in two intact groups at 7th grade students in a middle school in the 2015-2016 academic years. One of these groups was assigned as an experimental group with the educational game-integrated group research method (n=27) and the other was assigned as control group with traditional teaching design (n=27). The experimental and control groups were randomly attributed. Within pretest-posttest control group quasi-experimental design, data were collected via Prior Knowledge Test (PKT), Academic Achievement Test and Attitude towards School Scale (ATSS). The data were analyzed via descriptive statistics and independent group t-test. The experimental group indicated significantly higher academic achievement, more positive attitudes towards school scores and higher permanent learning levels in comparison to the control group.