An Investigation of Cognitive Gains Found in Secondary Education Religious Culture and Moral Education Curriculums According to the Revised Bloom Taxonomy

Abstract

Reasons such as developments in science and technology, changing needs of people and society, and innovations in educational approaches in the world reveal the need for continuous updating of curricula. For this purpose, the Secondary Education Religious Culture and Moral Education Curriculum, which was last renewed in 2010 by the Ministry of National Education, was renewed in 2018. With the created program, it is aimed to provide students with qualifications that produce knowledge and use knowledge. In addition, it has been stated in this program that the aim is to make Religious Culture and Moral Knowledge courses a simple and understandable course that takes individual differences into account and gains value and skills, rather than just a course that conveys information. In the Secondary Education Religious Culture and Moral Knowledge Curriculum, which was prepared by considering approaches such as skill-based learning, multiple intelligences and student-centered learning, it is aimed to provide environments where the basic skills of the student are prioritized and basic skills are prioritized. Religious Culture and Moral Knowledge courses provide an important opportunity to raise generations with national, moral, moral, humanitarian and cultural values specified in the Basic Law of National Education. In this context, it is very important to constantly update the curricula of these courses in parallel with the developments in education and to have the equipment to meet the needs of the age in terms of gaining the desired knowledge, skills, attitudes and skills. The revised Bloom's Taxonomy also has a significant impact on improving the quality of the curriculum. In the research, it is aimed to examine the cognitive acquisitions in the Secondary Education Religious Culture and Moral Knowledge Curriculum prepared and implemented by the Ministry of National Education in the 2018-2019 academic year, according to the Revised Bloom Taxonomy. For this purpose, the gains specified in the program were classified according to the learning areas, and then the cognitive gains were analyzed according to the dimensions of knowledge and cognitive process. The sample of the research consists of 79 acquisitions in the program and belonging to the cognitive domain. In the research, the document analysis method, one of the qualitative research methods, was used. In the general distribution of the cognitive gains in the program in the cognitive process dimension, the intensity in the steps of understanding and evaluation draws attention. While 39.24% of all gains are at the level of understanding, 34.17% of them are at the level of evaluation. The fact that approximately three of every four acquisitions are at these stages contradicts the necessity of a balanced distribution of the acquisitions at each stage in order for full learning to take place. While 8.86% of the gains are in the remembering step, 17.72% are in the decoding step. The lack of achievement in the application step and the intended creation step, in which students achieve the success of solving the problems they encounter in life based on the information they have learned, is an important deficiency of the program. to reveal new information based on learned information. This is stated in the curriculum; It is against the goal of acquiring qualifications that produce knowledge, use it functionally in life, and thus solve problems, think critically, and contribute to society and culture. In this study, the document review method, one of the qualitative research methods, was used. In this method, it is aimed to examine the written sources of information about the subject to be researched. This process; accessing the data, checking the originality of the data, understanding, analyzing and evaluating in accordance with the purpose of the research are carried out in five stages. In this direction, books, theses, scientific articles and symposium papers within the scope of the subject were scanned and analyzed in accordance with the purpose. The data obtained formed the basis for the evaluation of the gains in the Religious Culture and Moral Knowledge Curriculum, which has been implemented since the 2018-2019 academic year, according to the Revised Bloom Taxonomy.