Teaching Secondary School Science through Creative Drama Method: A case study approach

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the practicality of creative drama method for students in science teaching. For this purpose the effects of creative drama method on the students’ self-efficacy, scientific process skills and attitudes towards science have been investigated. An instrumental case study research method was used to teach the unit “States of Matter and Heat” unit in the 8th grade science curriculum through creative drama. The participants consisted of 20 eight grade students in a secondary school in Kilis. The group guide program, which consists of seven session plans, was prepared by the researchers in line with the views of three science education experts. The practice was carried out by the first author for a total of seven weeks in seven sessions, 80 minutes each. Data have been collected through “Science and Technology Course Self-efficacy Scale (STSS)”, “Scientific Process Skills (SPS) test”, “Science Course Attitude Scale (Science-AS)”, semi-structured interviews and observation. Obtained quantitative data were analyzed by Wilcoxon Signed Sequences test and the qualitative data were analyzed by content analysis. According to the results, the negative aspects of creative drama learning environment affected the practicability of creative drama method and the practicability of creative drama method increased significantly by eliminating these negative aspects. It was also found creative drama method increased their self-efficacy about learning science and attitudes towards science course, but it had no statistically significant effects on students’ scientific process skills. In accordance with these results, related suggestions were made for further studies.