The impact of activity-enriched teaching and educational games on the academic success of middle school students in astronomy courses

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Elsa

This study investigates how activity-enriched instruction combined with educational games affects astronomy achievement in the 6th-grade Solar System and Eclipses unit. A quasi-experimental design with pre-test and post-test control groups was used with 57 students from a secondary school in Türkiye. The experimental group received a constructivist learning approach plus astronomy-related games and activities, while the control group used only the constructivist method. An astronomy achievement test was validated as a reliable and valid data collection tool, and results showed higher astronomy achievement for the experimental group.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages9

Reading Time23 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

Literature Review

Method

Results

Conclusion

Discussion

Implications

Limitations

References

Asian Journal of Education and Training Vol. 11, No. 2, 50-58, 2025 ISSN(E) 2519-5387 DOI: 10.20448/edu. v11i2 .6662 © 2025 by the authors; licensee Asian Online Journal Publishing Group The impact of activity-enriched teaching and educational games on the academic success of middle school students in astronomy courses Onder Sensoy1 􀀣 Didem Varzikioglu2 1Department of Mathematics and Science Education, Gazi University, Ankara, Turkey. Email: [sensoy@gazi.edu.tr](sensoy@gazi.edu.tr) 2Ministry of National Educationity, Hatay, Turkey. Email: [didem.varzikioglu@gmail.com](didem.varzikioglu@gmail.com) (􀀣 Corresponding Author) Abstract This study investigates the effect of teaching enriched with astronomy activities and educational games on astronomy achievement in the 6th-grade Solar System and Eclipses unit. Fifty-seven students in the 6th grade of a secondary school in Türkiye participated in the study. Although the groups were formed randomly, since the students themselves could not be randomly distributed among the groups, a quasi-experimental design with pre-test and post-test control groups was adopted. The experimental group used a constructivist learning approach and educational games and activities related to the astronomy course. The control group used only the constructivist learning method. While creating the astronomy achievement test as a data collection tool for the research, the achievements of the 6th-grade Solar System and Eclipses Unit were considered. Validity and reliability studies were conducted for the data collection tool, and it was concluded that the test was applicable. The experimental application revealed that including astronomy activities and educational games in science lessons increased the astronomy achievement of 6th-grade students. Based on this result, it can be said that educational games and activities used in science lessons can positively contribute to achievement. Keywords: Activity-based learning, Astronomy achievement, Astronomy teaching, Game-based teaching, Science education, Science teaching. Citation | Sensoy, O., & Varzikioglu, D. (2025). The impact of activity-enriched teaching and educational games on the academic success of middle school students in astronomy courses. Asian Journal of Education and Training, 11(2), 50–58. 10.20448/edu.v11i2.6662 History: Received: 2 January 2025 Revised: 16 April 2025 Accepted: 28 April 2025 Published: 7 May 2025 Licensed: This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License Publisher: Asian Online Journal Publishing Group Funding: This study received no specific financial support. Institutional Review Board Statement: The Ethical Committee of the Gazi University, Turkey has granted approval for this study on 7 September 2021 (Ref. No. 2021-930) . Transparency: The authors confirm that the manuscript is an honest, accurate, and transparent account of the study; that no vital features of the study have been omitted; and that any discrepancies from the study as planned have been explained. This study followed all ethical practices during writing. Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no competing interests. Authors’Contributions: Both authors contributed equally to the conception and design of the study. Both authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript. Contents 1. Introduction ...................................................................................................................................................................................... 51 2. Literature Review ............................................................................................................................................................................ 52 3. Method ...........................................................................................................................................

FAQs

What does the study examine regarding astronomy education?

The study examines the effect of teaching enriched with astronomy activities and educational games on students’ astronomy achievement in the Solar System and Eclipses unit.

How were the groups and instructional approaches set up?

A quasi-experimental design with pre-test and post-test control groups was used. The experimental group used constructivist learning plus astronomy-related games and activities, while the control group used only the constructivist approach.

What were the main findings about student achievement?

Including astronomy activities and educational games in science lessons increased 6th-grade students’ astronomy achievement, indicating a positive contribution to achievement.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Elsa