USING THE WORD ASSOCIATION TEST IN GEOGRAPHY COURSES AS A DIAGNOSTIC TOOL: EXAMPLE OF PLANTS

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With this research, it is aimed to use the Word Association Test (WAT), which is an alternative assessment and evaluation tool, as a diagnostic tool in determining the cognitive structures of high school students regarding the subject of plants in the course of Geography. The participants of the research consist of 35 students and they were selected among the 10th grade students studying in a high school in Konya in the 2018-2019 academic year, using the criterion sampling technique from purposive sampling methods. The Word Association Test form which was prepared with four keywords (plant, tree, bush and grass) used before and after the training to collect the data. Frequency analysis technique, which is one of the descriptive analysis techniques, was used in the analysis of the data. In addition, concept network maps were prepared using the cut-off technique. In these concept networks, the relations among the answer words produced by the students for the given keywords are revealed. According to the findings of the research, it was determined that students were able to produce fewer answer words and perceive the concepts as independent from each other in the pre-test but they were able to produce more related answer words in the post-test. In addition, the concept networks emerging at the end of learning show that there is a positive development in students cognitive structures. As a result, the word association test can be used as a diagnostic tool in Geography lessons by educators to determine their students prior knowledge and to determine whether meaningful learning takes place or not.

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Geography Teaching , Measurement and Evaluation , Word Association Test

International Journal of Geography and Geography Education

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International Journal of Geography and Geography Education