THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SOCIAL EMOTIONAL LEARNING LEVEL AND ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT IN A SCIENCE COURSE ENHANCED WITH CASEL-BASED ACTIVITIES

Abstract

The aim of this study is to examine the relationship between students’ social-emotional learning (SEL) levels and their academic achievement in Science courses supported by CASEL-based activities. The study is based on a secondary analysis of the quantitative dataset obtained from the main research that investigated the effects of CASEL-based SEL activities on students’ SEL levels and academic achievement. The study was conducted using the relational survey model within the framework of the quantitative research approach. The study group consisted of 31 sixth-grade students in the experimental group of a public middle school in Ordu, Türkiye, during the 2025–2026 academic year. Data were collected using the Social Emotional Learning Scale (SELS) and the Science Achievement Test (SAT) developed by the researcher. Pearson’s product-moment correlation analysis was used to analyze the data. The findings revealed a positive, very weak, and statistically non-significant relationship between students’ SEL levels and their Science academic achievement (r = .156, p > .05). Consequently, no significant linear relationship was found between SEL level and Science academic achievement. The findings suggest that academic achievement is a multidimensional construct that cannot be explained solely by SEL and that the relationship between SEL and academic achievement should be interpreted within the interaction of cognitive, individual, and environmental factors.