Effect of Jigsaw II, reading-writing-presentation, and computer animations on the teaching of Light Unit

The aim of this study is to determine the effect of Jigsaw II technique, reading-writing-presentation method, and computer animation on students’ academic achievements, epistemological beliefs, attitudes towards science lesson, and the retention of knowledge in the “Light” unit covered in the 7th grade. The sample of the study consists of 71 seventh-grade students from two different middle schools located in Erzurum City (Turkey) in the 2013-2014 academic year. One of these schools was randomly determined as the Jigsaw II Group (JIIG) (n = 24). In this group, the Jigsaw II technique was used during the cooperative learning. Another school was taken as the Reading-Writing-Presentation Group (RWPG) (n=22). In this group, the reading-writing-presentation method was employed. The other school was appointed as the Animation Group (AG) (25). In this group, computer animations were used. Academic Achievement Test (AAT), Science Lesson Attitude Scale (SLAS), and Epistemological Belief Questionnaire (EBQ) were used for data collection. The data were evaluated by using descriptive statistics, ANOVA, and ANCOVA. According to the analyses results, the Jigsaw II technique and the reading-writing-presentation method are more effective than animations in terms of academic success and retention of knowledge, but the difference between the effectiveness of the reading-writing-presentation method and that of animations is not significant. The results also indicate that Jigsaw II and animations have more positive influences on epistemological beliefs when compared to the reading-writing-presentation method. Finally, they show that all the three methods and techniques used in the study are effective in creating positive attitudes towards the lesson among students, and the use of animations has more positive influences than others.    Key words: Cooperative learning model, Jigsaw II technique, reading-writing-presentation, computer animations, light unit, science and technology attitudes, epistemological belief.