Examination of the Perceptions of Students Diagnosed with Special Talent regarding the Application of Kahoot-Assisted Astronomy

Abstract

The aim of this study is to examine the experiences of the students regarding the "Kahoot assisted astronomy application". Phenomenological design was used in the research. The study group of the research consists of 40 students with special talents who are studying in a science and art center in Van in the first semester of the 2022-2023 academic year. Twenty-four of the participants were girls and 16 were boys. Easily accessible case sampling method was used in the formation of the study group of the research. In the research, first of all, 35 questions related to the subject of astronomy were prepared and these questions were uploaded to the Kahoot application, which is a Web 2.0 tool. Students used the sub-applications of "classic mode", "color siege", "team mode", "treasure chest" and "submarine team" in Kahoot application for eight weeks in groups. A semi-structured interview form was used as data collection tools within the scope of the research. Descriptive and content editing approaches were used in the analysis of the data. Codes and themes were created from the obtained data. As a result of the research, it was determined that the students' "Kahoot assisted astronomy application" had positive effects on students' motivation and perception towards astronomy. In addition, with this application, it was concluded that the students learned new concepts about astronomy, repeated the concepts they learned and eliminated their misconceptions about astronomy. In addition, it was observed that the students enjoyed the applications throughout the whole process.