The Effect of Activities Developed with the Web 2.0 Pixton Tool in 6th Grade Social Studies Course on Middle School Students’ Innovative Thinking Tendencies
Chapter from the book:
Seyhan,
A.
(ed.)
2025.
New Approaches in Social Studies Education (Theory, Research, and Practices).
Synopsis
This study aimed to examine the effects of Web 2.0-based Pixton activities on sixth-grade students’ innovative thinking tendencies in the Social Studies course. The research was conducted using a pretest-posttest control group quasi-experimental design. The participants consisted of a total of 48 sixth-grade students enrolled in a public secondary school under the Ministry of National Education. The students were divided into two equal groups: an experimental group and a control group. Prior to the implementation, activities were designed using the Web 2.0-based Pixton tool in accordance with the “Science, Technology, and Society” learning area of the Social Studies curriculum. These activities were structured to support and enhance students’ innovative thinking skills. During the implementation phase, students were first introduced to the Pixton application, and then a total of eight lessons were conducted using comic-based activities. Lessons in the experimental group were delivered through Pixton-based activities, whereas lessons in the control group were conducted following the existing curriculum through conventional instructional methods. For data collection, the study employed the Innovative Thinking Scale, developed to measure secondary school students’ innovative thinking tendencies, along with a semi-structured interview form. The quantitative data were analyzed using SPSS software, and independent samples t-tests were conducted to compare the groups. The results indicated that there was no significant difference between the pretest scores of the experimental and control groups, whereas posttest results revealed a significant increase in favor of the experimental group. Findings from the qualitative data demonstrated that Pixton-supported activities increased students’ engagement in the lesson, made the learning process more enjoyable, and contributed to the development of their innovative thinking skills.
