The effect of using the drama method in the 6th grade social studies class on student success

The main objective of this research is to evaluate the effect of using drama method in 6th grade Social Studies course on student attitudes and behaviors along with success. The research is a quantitative research that consists of collecting and analyzing data obtained from success tests and attitude scales. In this study, pre-test and post-test controlled randomized half experimental design method was used. The study group of the research consists of sixth-grade students. 42 students participated in the research. The implementation of the research was carried out in the secondary school 6th grade level of a private school located in Pendik district of Istanbul in the 2021-2022 academic year. In the research, the Pre-test-post-test control group experimental design method was used within the scope of the Social Studies curriculum of the Ministry of National Education. The first group is the Control group where traditional teaching methods were applied, while the second group is the Experimental group where the teaching was performed by including teaching methods that used the drama method. In the Control group, traditional methods were used, and in the Experimental group, drama method was used. In the 6th grade Citizenship Unit, topics such as "Governance forms from the past to the present", "Democratic State and its organs", "I am also there in the decision-making process", "Democracy everywhere", "Our rights and responsibilities are secured", "Turkish women from yesterday to today" were covered (Ministry of National Education, 2018). To examine the attitudes of students towards Social Studies, Social Studies Attitude Scale (Aksüt, 2016) and National Education Ministry achievement tests (Citizenship Unit Test-13, Test-14, Ministry of National Education, 2018) were used for academic success measurement. SPSS package program was used for the analysis of quantitative data. T-tests were utilized in the analysis of interpretations. As a result of the research, it was revealed that there was a significant difference in the success levels and attitudes towards Social Studies between the Control group, which applied traditional methods, and the Experimental group, which applied the drama method. Keywords: Social Studies, traditional method, drama, creative drama, drama in Social Studies education.