Examining the effectiveness of social studies lesson enriched with animation

The study examined the views of students and teachers on technology-enhanced learning environments in social studies instruction. The study group consisted of 38 students attending a middle school in the Muratpaşa district of Antalya province during the 2022-2023 academic year, along with 2 social studies teachers teaching in the social studies department. The study employed the basic qualitative research design commonly preferred in qualitative research methods. In order to collect data for the research, a semi-structured interview form developed by the researcher was utilized. Content analysis method, one of the qualitative analysis methods, was employed for the analysis of the collected data. According to the research findings, students found the animation activities enjoyable and engaging, and the animations used were found to be stimulating. These activities were found to facilitate learning, enhance retention, and motivate students to participate in the class. Additionally, it was concluded that the majority of students expressed a desire for continued use of animations not only in social studies but also in other subjects. From the perspective of teachers, it has been revealed that the use of technology enhances interest in lessons. Teachers can utilize animations not only to capture students' attention at the beginning of the class but also as reinforcing tools for understanding the subject matter. Additionally, teachers prefer to use animations frequently to concretize abstract topics and visualize concepts for students in the content of social studies. As a result, the technology-enhanced learning environment in social studies instruction was generally evaluated positively by both students and teachers who participated in the research.