Improvement of instructional practices of religious culture and moral knowledge course according to student-centered approach

The purpose of this study is to form an example case about how can the topics of the Religious Culture and Moral Knowledge courses be arranged according to student-centered educational approach, and to determine how the lectures organized according to this approach affects students' success rate and their attitude towards the class. The study was applied on to the 4-B class of Mevlana Secondary School, Yığılca, Düzce during 2014-2015 academic year. The 4-B class consists 20 students and 12 of them are male and 8 of them are female. The researcher is working as a teacher for Religious Culture and Moral Knowledge courses at this school. The study was carried out with action research technique which is one of the qualitative research techniques. Data were collected by the researcher herself using qualitative research methods. Data triangulation was done to strengthen data validity and to enhance meaningfulness of the results. Reflective diaries, activity evaluation forms, interviews, student letters, student self evaluation forms, and written exams were used as the data collection tools. Data analysis was done simultaneously with data collection. Content analysis method was used while data were analyzed and interpreted. The following is the list of steps taken during the course of this study: 1. Forming a work plan. 2. Reviewing the literature for determining the problem. 3. Determination of the problem. 4. Preparation of the first action plan. 5. Application of the first action plan. 6. Analyzing data collected through the application of the first action plan. 7. Evaluation of the results and preparation of the second action plan. 8. Application of the second action plan. 9. Analyzing data collected through the application of the second action plan. 10. Evaluation of the results. Student-centered education performed while constructivism and the multiple intelligence approach taken into account for 12 class hours, and missing aspects of the education were determined and corrected. After that another lecture series was performed for 8 class hours. The application of the courses continued for 20 class hours in total. Results of the course applications were evaluated and it is concluded that the student centered education affected the students' success rate and their attitude toward the class positively. Some suggestions were developed for applications of student-centered education at the end of this research. Key Words: Student Centered Education, Religious Culture and MoralKnowledge Course, Constructivism, Theory of Multiple lntelligences, Action Research.