Investigating the Change of Student Behaviours according to the Environment with Mixed Method

Abstract

In this research, it is aimed to examine whether the behaviours of elementary school students change according to the environment in which the students live. The research was conducted through sequential exploratory design, one of the mixed research methods. The participant group of the research was formed by convenience sampling method. A total of 40 elemantary school students, 20 from primary school and 20 from secondary school, were included in the participant group. The participant group also included seven teachers, three from elemantary and four from secondary schools. The data were collected using a checklist, unstructured observation and semi-structured interview form. The data collection process of the research was designed in a multidimensional way as observation of the students at home by their parents, observation of the students at school by the researcher and interviews with the teachers of the students by the researcher. Descriptive statistics and content analysis were used to analyse the data. At the end of the research, it was determined that primary school students' behaviours varied according to the environment they were in. In the research, it was also determined that primary school teachers think that students exhibit different behaviours in the face of similar events, that the behaviours acquired by students through education may lead to undesirable behaviours, and that students who exhibit inconsistent behaviours are inadequate in terms of socialisation and academic success. Depending on the results of the research, various suggestions were developed.