8th Grade Students’ Success in Visual Reading and Logical Reasoning Test Items

Abstract

In the 21st century, the primary goals of education systems are to educate individuals who can understand, perceive and interpret electronic graphics and symbols on the screens and who have advanced logical reasoning skills. Turkish lessons and teachers play essential roles in the acquisition of visual and digital literacy skills, which have become widespread in modern educational approaches. This study aimed to explore 8th-grade students’ performances in visual reading and logical reasoning tests by particular variables such as the monthly number of books they read, the daily number of Turkish tests, social media use, Turkish lesson performances, and the socioeconomic status. This non-experimental quantitative study used a correlational design to determine the relationships between variables. The sample consisted of 200 8th grade students from three public secondary schools in Palandöken, Erzurum. The study data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, the Mann-Whitney U test, and Spearman Correlation Analysis. The findings indicated no significant difference between the students’ scores from the achievement test and the monthly number of books, and the family's socioeconomic status. However, there was a significant relationship between achievement test scores and Turkish lesson performance, the daily number of Turkish test items, and social media use.