We are Late Enough: Take Action in Social Studies Classes

Abstract

The aim of this research is to provide an applied example that serves as a guide to social studies classrooms and directly supports the teachers who implement it, specifically for the social studies lesson. In the research planned as an action research, a group of 27 7th-grade students from a middle school was selected as the study group, and activities were implemented under the name of “Social Studies Club” for a duration of 16 weeks, with 2 hours of weekly sessions. The results of the research support the literature in terms of student perceptions at the beginning of the application. According to students “Social studies is not among the favorite subjects, there is little interest in the subject, but it is not considered difficult. The lessons are perceived as simple but boring.” At the end of the applications, students have developed positive feelings towards the social studies lesson, gained awareness about the achievements, and acquired learning outcomes. Looking at the interviews conducted with the students at the end of the applications, it can be observed that the students made positive evaluations regarding the applications. They were able to make more inferences about the social studies lesson, not because they found it simple, but because they considered it important. As a result, they started to view social studies as one of their favorite subjects and expressed that they have explored the content of the social studies lesson. Although this research provides a small snapshot in terms of the duration of the application, it can be considered as a guiding resource in terms of addressing the problems in social studies education.