International Online Journal of Educational Sciences, 2013, 5 (2), 474-488 © 2013 International Online Journal of Educational Sciences (IOJES) is a publication of Educational Researches and Publications Association (ERPA) www.iojes.net International Online Journal of Educational Sciences ISSN: 1309-2707 Visual Material Effect on Academic Achievement, Creative Thinking and Attitude towards Course * Serap Emir İstanbul University Hasan Ali Yücel Education Faculty, Turkey. ARTICLE INFO ABSTRACT Article History: Received 28.02.2012 Received in revised form 07.05.2012 Accepted 24.07.2012 Available online 05.08.2013 The aim of this study is to test the effectiveness of the visual materials’ usage in Social Sciences on students’ academic achievement, creative thinking skills and their attitudes towards the course. The study was based on the Social Sciences unit titled ‘’Geography and Our World’’ and conducted with a total number of 38 students, (18 of them were in the experimental group and 20 of them were in the control group). The participants were 6th grade students of Koç Primary School in Bolu. For data collection, Social Sciences Achievement Test, Torrance Creative Thinking Test and Attitude Scale were used as instruments. In the statistical analysis of data, Mean, Standard Deviation levels and Mann Whitney-U Test were used. The results of the study revealed that the program designed for the experimental group, increased the participants’ academic achievement and creative thinking skills and had a positive impact on their attitudes towards the course. © 2013 IOJES. All rights reserved Keywords: 1 Visual material, academic achievement, creative thinking, attitude Extended Abstract Purpose The aim of the study is to test whether the use of visual materials in Social Sciences courses have an effect on academic achievement, creative thinking and attitude scores on students. To this end, the experimental group has received instruction via visual materials in Social Sciences and the control group received only traditional instruction. Method In the study, the ‘’Pre-Post Test with Control Group Design’’ was used. This study was based on the Social Sciences unit titled ‘’Geography and Our World’’ and conducted with a total number of 38 students, (18 of them were in the experimental group and 20 of them were in the control group). The participants were 6th grade students of Koç Primary School in Bolu. While balancing the groups, academic achievement pre- test points, attitude pre-test points and Torrance Creative Thinking pre-test points were used. The study was conducted with two groups which were decided as control and experimental groups at random. For the experimental group, visual materials were used in teaching but for the control group, there was no intervention made on teaching. In the study, the data were collected by the academic achievement test including 40 items, Torrance Creative Thinking Test and Attitude Scale. *This paper was presented at XIV. National Educational Science Congress Corresponding author’s address: İstanbul University Hasan Ali Yücel Education Faculty, Department of Special Education Telephone: +90 212 440 03 30 Fax: +90 212 513 05 61 e-mail: emirserap@gmail.com