Thesis:

Title : The effect of storytelling on social interactions and academic self-evaluation of second-year elementary school students in Sabzevar city, 2025.

The present study aimed to investigate the effect of storytelling on social interactions and academic selfassessment among second-cycle elementary school students in Sabzevar in 2025. The study was applied in terms of purpose and employed a quasi-experimental pretest-posttest design with an experimental group and a control group. The statistical population consisted of second-cycle elementary school students in Sabzevar during the 2025 academic year. A sample of 40 students was selected through convenience sampling and randomly assigned to an experimental group and a control group, with 20 students in each group. The experimental group participated in a storytelling program, while the control group continued to receive the usual educational program. Data were collected using measures of academic self-assessment and social interactions. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and inferential tests, including the Shapiro–Wilk test, Levene’s test, multivariate analysis of covariance (MANCOVA), and univariate analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) in SPSS. The results of the multivariate analysis of covariance indicated that, after controlling for pretest scores, the group effect on the combined dependent variables of social interactions and academic self-assessment was statistically significant (Wilks’ Lambda = 0.472, F = 19.561, p < 0.001, partial eta squared = 0.528). The univariate analyses further showed that storytelling had a significant effect on social interactions (F = 13.940, p = 0.001, partial eta squared = 0.274) and academic self-assessment (F = 38.957, p < 0.001, partial eta squared = 0.513). The adjusted means also indicated that the experimental group achieved higher scores in both social interactions and academic selfassessment than the control group. The findings suggest that storytelling, as an active and interactive educational approach, can be an effective strategy for enhancing social interactions and academic self-assessment among second-cycle elementary school students.

Keywords: Storytelling, Social Interactions, Academic Self-Assessment, Second-Cycle Elementary School Students