The use of family participatory activities in social sciences course: Evaluation of the application from the perspective of teachers, parents and students

The aim of this research is to evaluate the outcomes of activity-based family participation studies conducted within the "Producing, Consuming, and Being Conscious" unit in social studies classes from different perspectives. The study employs a mixed-method approach that integrates both quantitative and qualitative research methods. Among the mixed-method designs, a concurrent embedded design was used. The study group consisted of 17 sixth-grade students and their parents from a public middle school in the Kanarca district of Sakarya province. The study group was determined using the easily accessible case sampling method, one of the purposive sampling methods. Data collection tools for the research included a parent interview form, student interview form, parent diaries, student diaries, teacher observation form, and an achievement test.For the analysis of qualitative data, content analysis was used, while for the achievement test analysis, independent samples t-test was used for learning outcomes 2 and 5, as they met the assumptions of normal distribution and homogeneity of variances. For learning outcomes 3, 4, and 6, which did not meet these assumptions, the Mann-Whitney U test, a nonparametric equivalent of the independent samples t-test, was used. The results obtained from the research revealed that social studies lessons enriched with family participation activities had positive contributions to students. It was found that students and families benefitted from mutual information exchange, learning together, sharing experiences, skill acquisition, value acquisition, and learning new concepts. Students and parents stated in the interview forms that family participation activities in the lessons made the lessons more interesting, effective, and enjoyable. However, the teacher, who was in the position of both researcher and practitioner, noted that planning and process were time-consuming and that activities should be conducted on appropriate topics.