The Application of constructivist learning model to the units of history in the social studies

Generally, Social Studies and History teaching studies in Turkey are just at the begining. On the other hand, the existing applications are not sufficient for the needs of news in the world. Traditionally, history teaching is accepted as a transfer of historical knowledge. This kind of attitude led the students to memorize. Students could not comprehend the meaning and importance of the historical knowledge. Therefore, there is necessary radical change in the attitude towards the teaching history. One of the alternative educational understanding is constructivist learning theory which is one of the most popular theory in the world in recent years. Constructivist learning theory have many alternative proposal about the deficiencies of the traditional education system. Constructivism, essentially, defends the point of view that knowledge is constructed in the mind of human, so education should be programmed at the center of student. In teching history, it offers the development of student's mind by the way historical knowledge, instead of memorization. There is an understanding that using historical knowledge as a tool to develop some mental skills like critical thinking, making true decision. We hope the opinion that the application of constructivist ideas to the teaching history will enhance the quality of the area. û