Investigating the Effectiveness of the Science Experiments Guidebook for Students with Learning Disabilities

Abstract

Given science curriculum's vision "making all students scientific literate," A Science Experiments Guidebook may be an effective tool in making students with learning disabilities scientifically literate and supporting their conceptual understanding. The aim of this study was to implement " A Science Experiments Guidebook for Secondary School Students with Learning Disabilities" and to investigate its effect on their conceptual understanding. The enriched worksheets comprised of " stimulating student interest-active engagement and evaluation" sections. " Buzz 22 and brainstorming" techniques were deployed to create a discussion environment by stimulating student interest, while " aquarium or snowball" techniques were used in the evaluation section. 6 experiments of " Living Things and Life" learning domain were embedded into the active engagement. Through a case study research method, the study group consisted of 12 students with learning difficulties. Concept test, interview and drawing test were used to collect data. The results indicated that the the guidebook had positive effects on their conceptual understanding. Also, it was observed that they were more successful in expressing their thoughts with drawings. This may result from their associated writing problems. In light of the results, it can be concluded that such alternative assessment methods as drawings may make more accurate contribution to evaluate their performances.