Evaluation of the effectiveness of peer teaching method in middle school social studies lesson

The objective of the present study is to determine the effect of the use of peer instruction method in 7th grade (3rd year in middle school) social studies course on the academic achievements of the students, their attitudes towards the course, critical thinking skills and the permanence of learning. Quasi-experimental design, one of the experimental research methods, was used in the study within pretest-posttest, one study and one control group methodology. The research was conducted with 7th grade students attending Mezre Middle School in Elazığ provincial center during 2014 – 2015 academic year spring semester. The subject "economy and social life" was instructed using peer instruction method in the study group, while the same subject was instructed using instruction methods and activities included in the existing instruction program in the control group. Pretests and posttests using data collection tools were implemented before and after the application, and attitude and permanence tests were also conducted to identify learning levels and permanence in the attitude towards the course. The difference between the academic achievements of the study group where instruction activities based on peer instruction were implemented and the control group, where peer instruction methods were not used, was scrutinized with "Social Studies Achievement Scale" developed by the researcher. The differences and observed variations between the attitudes of the study and control groups towards the social studies course was obtained using "Social Studies Attitude Scale." The differences and observed variations between the critical thinking skills displayed by the study and control groups were determined with "Cornell Critical Thinking Test (Level X)." Collected data were analyzed using SPSS (Statistical Package for Social Science) 21.0 software. Descriptive statistical methods were used in data analysis. In comparison of quantitative data, differences between the groups were determined using t-test, Mann-Whitney U-test, ANOVA and Repeated Measure ANOVA, MANOVA and Doubly MANOVA. Results of the current study demonstrated that the achievement levels of the students increased in time both in the study group where peer instruction method was used and in the control group where instruction methods and activities determined by the existing program were used. However, between group comparisons showed that the study group was more successful when compared to the control group (F = 7.805, p < 0.05). Based on permanence test results, there was no significant difference between the groups. This was due to the fact that permanence scores demonstrated a sharp increase in posttest results. The reason for that was the fact that 7 students with lower-than-average posttest achievement scores did not participate in the permanency test and caused an increase in the control group permanence test success scores. The posttest mean scores of the missing students were 14,21, while the posttest mean scores of the remaining students was 19.53. An analysis of the difference between these scores identified an almost intermediate scale difference (Cohen, 1988 Cited by Pallant, 2007, p. 223). Albeit the difference was not statistically significant, the difference could be considered as significant in practice. As a result, mean scores for the groups were compared and a difference could not be established (F = 3.265, p > .05). Based on the data obtained with attitude scale it was observed that there was an upward trend between pretest and posttest scores of the students both in the study group, where peer instruction method was used, and in the control group, where instruction methods and activities determined by the existing program were used and at the end of the process their attitude levels slightly increased. However, attitude scale scores of the students in study and control groups did not demonstrate a significant difference after the experiment was conducted. In other words, there was no evidence that the joint effects of being on different groups and the factors of repeated measurements on attitude scale scores were significant [group effect {F (1.63) = 1.318, p > 0.50}, between measurements effect {F (2.126) = .561, p > 0.50} and joint effect (group*measurement) {F (2.126) = 1.613, p > 0.50}]. In fact, it was observed that pretest attitude scores were already high. Cornell critical thinking test results demonstrated that critical thinking levels of the students both in the study group, where peer instruction method was used, and in the control group, where instruction methods and activities determined by the existing program were used, increased at the end of the process. It was also observed that there was a significant difference between the pretest and posttest scores for "induction and hypothesis formation" skills (p = 0.012 and p = .003, respectively). However, there was no significant difference between the pretest and posttest scores for "deduction, observation, questioning the reliability of the source, ciritical thinking" skills (p = 0.315, p = .462, p = .462 ve p = .122, respectively). Comparison of total group scores demonstrated that the study group was more successful when compared to the control group. As a result, it was observed that peer instruction method was more effective in improving the students' academic achievements and developing critical thinking skills than instruction methods and activities in the current curriculum, however, there was no significant difference between the groups based on permanence of learning and attitudes towards the course. Key Words: Social Studies, Peer Instruction, Critical Thinking, Academic Achievement, Attitude