Common Knowledge Construction Model Applications: Investigating the Effects on Academic Achievement and Retention

This research investigates the effects of the Common Knowledge Construction Model (CKCM) applied to the 6th-grade "matter and heat" unit of the Science Curriculum on students' academic achievements retention. The study employed "pre-test post-test non-equivalent control group design" was adopted. The research was conducted during the 2018-2019 academic year and lasted for 9 weeks, involving a total of 72 students from a middle school located in a province in the Aegean region in Turkey. Data collection instrument was developed by the researchers. Matter and Heat academic achievement test was applied to the groups as pre-test, post-test and retention test. From the results it was determined that lessons taught according to CKCM were more effective in improving students' academic achievements and retentions compared to the instructional practices included in the Science Curriculum.