Effect of 5E Learning Model on Academic Achievement and Attitude towards the Science Course: A Meta-Analysis Study

Abstract

The purpose of the current study is to determine whether the effect size of the studies investigating the effect of the 5E learning model on academic achievement and attitudes towards the course varies significantly depending on the level of schooling and type of the course through meta-analysis method. In this regard, a total of 38 studies conducted on the 5E learning model in the field of science teaching between 2006 and 2016 were investigated. All of these studies are theses including qualitative data, have been applied in science teaching in Turkey, published in national or international journals or unpublished and they were combined through the meta-analysis method. In the analysis of the collected data, the Comprehensive Meta Analysis (CMA) program was used and in the interpretation of the effect size or general effect size, Cohen’s d value was calculated. As a result of the study, it was concluded that the 5E learning model had the strongest effect on the academic achievement at the university level while it had the weakest effect at the elementary level and this model had the strongest effect on academic achievement in the physics course. Moreover, the 5E learning model had a moderate effect on the attitude towards the course and it had the strongest effect in terms of course attitude in the biology course. In this context, it is suggested that teachers should be encouraged to use the 5E model in science-related courses and in-service training should be given about the problems to be experienced during in-class applications.