THE EFFECTS OF CONTEXT-BASED LEARNING ON STUDENTS' LEVELS OF KNOWLEDGE AND INTEREST

The topic of "Microorganisms" was presented to students through various contexts, and the effects of such a lesson on students' levels of knowledge and interest were researched in this study. An experimental model with pretest and post-test control group was employed in the research. The study group was composed of the 191 9th graders attending Ziya Gokalp High School in Gebze in the 2009-2010 academic year. The prepared course content was applied for three weeks. Thus, the lessons were presented through content that was prepared on the basis of a variety of contexts in the experimental group while direct instruction method was used with the control group. The data obtained were analysed by using the SPSS programme. The levels of interest measured in the pre-test and pos-test were found to display statistically significant differences in both groups. However, an increase was found in students' interests in the experimental group following the application whereas a fall was identified in students' interest in the control group after the application. The findings coming from the knowledge test demonstrated that the students in the experimental group achieved higher scores than those in the control group and that the difference between the two groups was statistically significant.