Argumentation-supported educational comics as a teaching tool for environmental education

Abstract

Individuals’ interests, motivations, and knowledge about the environment can affect their behavior toward the environment. This mixed-methods sequential explanatory research study examined the effect of argumentation-supported educational comics used in science lessons on the environmental interest, motivation, and academic achievement of 5th-grade students (N = 290) and explored their experiences. Quantitative data collected in a quasi-experimental pretest-posttest design using validated survey scales indicated that from pretest to posttest, the scores of three variables of experimental groups 1 and 2 were higher than those of the control group. Qualitative findings from semi-structured interviews (N = 36) indicated that students stated that argumentation-supported educational comics attracted their attention and increased their motivation. Also, according to them, comics are very useful in expanding their environmental knowledge. Taken together, this research suggests that designing argumentation via educational comics can boost positive learning processes and outcomes.

Keywords:

• environmental education
• argumentation-supported educational comics
• interest
• motivation
• academic success
• secondary school students

Acknowledgments

This study was reproduced from the Ph.D. thesis titled ‘The Effect of Argumentation-Supported Educational Comics on Students’ Environmental Interests, Motivation, And Academic Achievements and Student Experiences’ prepared by the first author, supervised by the second author.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.