Effect of money and stamps on students' academic achievement in the social studies course

The purpose of this was study to examine the effect of use of money and stamps on students' academic achievement in the social studies course. Participants of this pre-test-post-test experimental-control group study were a total of 50 5th graders. The study which took six weeks (eighteen hours) was conducted in a state in the province of Adıyaman. It was carried out during the weeks when the following subjects were taught: "A Country, a Flag"; Independent Symbols" and "A world of Us All." While teaching the experimental group involved a student-centered approach utilizing money and stamps as visual evidence, teaching the control group involved text-book based traditional methods. Pre-test scores were used in selecting experimental and control groups so as to obtain two groups with similar achievement levels. In addition, a questionnaire was applied to the experimental group on what they knew about money and stamps before the test. During the experiment the activities based on visual materials involving use of money and stamps were used with the experimental group. Upon completion of teaching the above mentioned three units (subjects) both groups were given post-tests. The experimental group was also given the questionnaire after teaching sessions were completed. Data was analyzed using the SPSS 11.0 statistical package. Results showed that the experimental group obtained significantly higher scores than the control group. Limitations of the study, recommendations for research and social studies instruction were discussed.