Teaching Concepts Using the 5E Instructional Model to Secondary School Students with Mild Intellectual Disability: Particulate Structure of Matter

Abstract

In this study, the effect of teaching based on the 5E instructional model on students’ conceptual learning was investigated. The participants consisted of three inclusion students with mild mental disabilities who were studying in the sixth grade of a secondary school. A lesson plan based on the 5E teaching model was designed, focusing on the curriculum standard “S/he describes that matter has a particulate and distanced structure.” within the “Matter and Heat” unit of the sixth grade science course. While developing the lesson plan, different teaching methods-techniques were included in the learning activities to address the needs and interests of the students based on the related literature and interviews conducted with the class teacher, students, and parents. In the current study, it was concluded that the 5E model-based teaching, which was prepared by taking into account the student needs and different teaching methods-techniques, was effective in supporting students’ conceptual learning.