Analysis of the 7th grade social studies textbooks regarding their suitability for development of higher - order thinking skills

This study aimed to investigate the contributions of seventh grade social studies textbooks in terms of developing higher-order thinking skills (HOTS). In this context, higher-order thinking skills were limited to critical thinking skills, creative thinking skills, problem solving skills and decision-making skills, and four research questions were established. As the data source of the research, the study randomly selected, one of the seventh grade social studies textbooks published by the Ministry of National Education publications and one of the seventh grade social studies textbooks published by a private sector publishing house approved by the ministry. One of the qualitative research methods used was the method of document review. In the study, rubrics developed by the researcher were used to analyze the questions in the textbooks. As a result of the data analysis, it was concluded that the textbooks of both publishers were each partly appropriate in terms of developing higher-order thinking skills. The seventh grade textbook of the Ministry of National Education publishing house covers more questions that will support the higher-order thinking skills in comparison with the textbook of the private publishing house. These results reveal that seventh grade social studies textbooks need to be improved. The study suggests that the qualifications of the activities included in the textbooks should be given importance and that higher-order thinking skills should be equally involved. Keywords: Higher-order thinking skills, hots, social studies, textbooks, critical thinking, creative thinking, problem solving, decision making.