Teaching science through an animated lens : a case study in an elementary school in Lebanon

Abstract

The main purpose of this study was to explore the influence of teaching science using animated videos on students’ attitudes and academic performance in science in grade 2 specifically in the “Engineering” and “Matter” units. The study was conducted on 123 students aged 6 to 8 years, in a private school in North Lebanon. Prepared animated videos were used in addition to some custom-made videos in teaching certain concepts that are usually hard to understand. The study included two groups: a control group and a treatment group. It was conducted using mixed method. It involved collecting quantitative and qualitative data. First, a comparison between the students’ academic grades of both groups was conducted. The results showed that the treatment group scored better than the control group (p< 0.05) after watching animated videos during science class. Then, further data on students’ attitude towards science was collected using 3 methods: “My Attitudes towards Science”, ranking the subjects, and drawing their view about the science class, to check the impact of the intervention on the student’s attitudes towards science. The results showed that the students’ attitude towards science improved. The research results provided evidence that the use of animated videos in teaching science improved students’ academic performance and attitudes toward science.