The study seeks to assess the effect of instructing the "States of Matter and Heat" topic, through educational games corroborated with scientific narratives, on the academic performance and attitudes of 6th-grade students towards science course, along with the students' perceptions of this instruction technique. A mixed-methods design was used for the research objectives. Forty-eight sixth-grade students from two different secondary schools in a district of Kars, Turkey, were included in the study. Research data were collected using the “States of Matter and Heat Aptitude Test”, "The Scale of Attitudes toward the Science Course" and the "Survey on Teaching Science with Educational Games Corroborated by Scientific Narratives”. Prior to the intervention, the Aptitude Test and the Scale were administered as a pre-test to students from two different secondary schools. The topic was then taught to the students from one middle school through a direct instruction technique. The students from the other middle school were instructed through educational games corroborated by scientific narratives. The research was implemented over a four week period. Following the intervention, the Aptitude Test and the Scale were administered to students as a post-test. Students who were taught through educational games corroborated by scientific narratives were also asked to provide written feedback on the teaching technique. Quantitative data were analyzed with the Independent Samples t-Test, Wilcoxon Signed Rank Test, and Mann Whitney U Test, while qualitative data underwent content analysis. The study revealed that instructing the topic through educational games corroborated by scientific narratives enhanced students' academic performance and attitudes towards science. Students indicated that this instructional approach facilitated their comprehension, heightened their interest in the course, allowed them to engage with the topic enjoyably, and rendered the session stimulating.

Scientific narrative, educational game, matter and heat, academic achievement, attitude.