THE INFLUENCE OF FIGURED AND NON-FIGURED QUESTIONS ON SECONDARY STUDENTS' SUCCESS AT SCIENCE EXAMS

This study’s main objective is to analyze the extent of influences of figured or nonfigured questions in science exams on secondary school students’ performance. Previous studies indicate the fact that students’ performance is usually affected positively and sometimes adversely by conducting examinations having visuals such as pictures, figures and graphics … etc. In this particular study, the achievement of middle and high school students in figured and a non-figured test is investigated. The pilot studies of twenty-four –a question parallel form test on pressure has been conducted among forty two students. The reliability of the test was calculated as 0.63 for figured questions, and 0.84 for non-figured questions. In consequence of the pilot study, two parallel multiple choice tests each of which had twenty questions were created. The generated tests were conducted at four different schools in Yenimahalle District of Ankara where 112 students were given figured and 116 students were given non-figured questions. Following the research, it was observed that all students taking part in the study did better with figured questions when compared to non-figured ones. Besides, high-achievers were observed to have scored similar marks in both figured and non-figured tests while t-test analysis results indicate that middleachievers accomplished higher scores in figured tests rather than the tests having nonfigured questions.