OYUN TEMELLİ ÖĞRENMENİN İLKOKUL ÖĞRENCİLERİNİN YARATICI DÜŞÜNME BECERİLERİNE ETKİSİ

Abstract

This research aims to examine the effect of a game-based learning approach on the creative thinking skills of third-grade primary school students. The study, conducted in a primary school in Sungurlu district of Çorum, was carried out using a quasi-experimental design with a pre-test–post-test control group. While the existing Turkish language curriculum was followed in the control group, a program based on a game-based approach was applied to the experimental group for 10 weeks, two days a week, two lessons per week, totaling 40 lesson hours. The Torrance Creative Thinking Test, adapted into Turkish, was used to determine the students' creative thinking levels, and the data were analyzed using quantitative statistical methods. The findings show that game-based teaching applications significantly improved the students' fluency, flexibility, and originality dimensions compared to the control group. Figurative test findings reveal that students progressed in enriching existing figures rather than producing new drawings. The limited improvement in figurative originality and resistance to early closure can be attributed to the students' learning habits focused on quick and accurate results. In conclusion, the game-based learning approach is considered an effective teaching method, particularly in developing verbal creative thinking skills. Accordingly, it is recommended that teaching processes incorporate more activities that support students' original idea generation and offer flexible learning environments. Furthermore, planning interdisciplinary applications to support the formal dimension of creative thinking and examining game-based teaching at different grade levels with larger sample groups could make significant contributions to the literature.