The Effects of Integrated Mathematics and Life Sciences Teaching on Primary School Students' Value Acquisition

Abstract

A subject worth examining was the interdisciplinary approach’s planning and application of two distinct disciplines around a theme, as well as investigating the value achievement inclinations of students who participated in the interdisciplinary approach. In this context, the problem sentence of the research is that: Does integrated mathematics and life sciences teaching have an effect on primary school 3rd-grade students’ achievement of honesty, respect, love, and helpfulness values?”. In the research, a quasi-experimental design with a pretest-posttest control group which was designed under the theme of “tolerance,” was used to determine the effect of teaching integrated Mathematics and Life Sciences lessons in the third grade of primary school on students’ honesty, respect, love, and helpfulness value tendencies As the data collection tools of the research, the “Honesty Value achievement Scale,” “Love achievement Scale,” “Respect achievement Scale,” and “Helpfulness achievement Scale” were applied to the students in the sample. This research was conducted in three stages: preliminary preparations before application, integration of disciplines, lesson plan preparation, and actual application. There was a significant difference in favor of the experimental group between the primary school third-grade students in the experimental group, who were taught integrated mathematics and life sciences, compared to the control group students, who were taught according to the Ministry of National Education-approved course and workbook. In addition, it was concluded that there was a significant difference in favor of the posttest between the pretest-posttest scores of the honesty, respect, love, and helpfulness values belonging to the students in the experimental group in which integrated mathematics and life sciences were taught.

Examination of Mathematics Concepts in the Third Grade Life Sciences Textbook According to Mathematics Acquirements from the 3rd Grade to the 8th Grade

“…For all these reasons, the study is considered to be important. Another importance of the study is that when the literature is examined, there are not many studies in which life science and mathematics lessons are synthesized together (Kara, 2021;Baş, Işık-Tertemiz & Tay, 2021). So this study can contribute to the field in this respect too.…”

Integrated teaching in primary schools: A systematic review of current practices, barriers, and future developments

“…[24]- [29] Studying methods for incorporating cultural and real-world content into the classroom [16], [30], [31] Understanding how to use ICT in the classroom [5], [32]- [34] Examining the implementation of science, technology, engineering, art, and mathematics (STEAM) in the classroom [6], [22], [35]- [37] Table 1 provides an indication of the heterogeneous integrated teaching themes found in primary schools. While this diversity of subject area may be attractive for academic researchers, it may be challenging for prospective scholars to the field to rapidly acquire proficient in the body of knowledge required to examine trending topics, address urgent issues, and uncover interesting new research avenues.…”

“…As a result, they cannot guarantee high reliability and generalizability on an international scale due to inadequate empirical sampling [7], [21], [31], [33]. Lack of teachers' competence in integrated learning in the classroom (15) [5], [7], [12], [16], [22], [23], [25]- [27], [30]- [33], [37], [48] 2…”

“…Inadequate availability of integrated teaching materials (10) [7], [12], [21], [22], [24]- [26], [30], [31], [ If we omit the articles that did not identify any restrictions, we find that 21 publications (87.7%) specified obstacles that were being tackled. The teaching competence of instructors was regarded as the most important criterion for the effective implementation of integrated education in 16 studies (66.7%).…”