The importance of museum education raising history and culture awareness in primary education first stage visual arts course

The purpose of the research is to determine the level of history and culture awareness of the students who are studying at the fifth grade in primary education first stage, to determine their interest towards the terms such as historical artifacts and museum and what they understand from these terms, to elicit their perspective towards the history and to provide history and culture awareness by doing a research about Disciplinary Based Education (Art Education in Various Fields) with the data to be obtained. In this research, the question `how to be more effective? is tried to be answered by seeking the deficiencies in Disciplinary Based Education (Art Education in Various Fields) and Visual Arts course.In the research, students were applied pretest, museum activity (tour), application and posttest by degrees. This research may be evaluated as coeducational method. Qualitative data were transformed into qualitative data with rubric performance evaluation form. The nature of the research consists of 15+15:30 5/B students who were chosen randomly from Cemil Nardalı Primary School in the district of Seyhan/Adana. On the first stage of the research, students were applied pretest to gather data about their preliminary knowledge on museum. On the second stage of the research, students in both groups are asked to write a short story including key words such as museum, artifact, bus stop, argument. On this stage, the important part is whether students perceive the word `argument? as argument between two people which has a sad ending or from the perspective of historical artifact. On the third stage of the research, experimental and control groups are divided into two and the subject of museum is taught to experimental group by using slide. At the end of the lesson, students are asked to prepare museum activity files.On the thirt stage of the research, experimental and control groups are taken to museum. Students, who have prepared files, are asked to answer the questions of description, analysis, interpretation and judgment within the scope of Disciplinary Based Education and to draw an artwork. All questions are answered in accordance with the artifact that they have chosen.On the fourth stage of the research, application is performed in classroom environment. An application study is performed to the students about the artifacts that they have been impressed most. There is no limitation on material. On the last stage of the research, posttest is applied. After the process that the student has experienced, results of the pretest and posttest are compared.Findings have showed shown that students had great deficiencies about museum and historical artifacts at the beginning of the research. Students had also difficulty in establishing connection between visual arts and museum activity. It has been understood that students have a very low level of knowledge about history, historical artifacts and museums and this is because of their previous education. They did not visit museums, have activities in museums and witness the remnants of civilizations on the land that they are living now. In the application stage, it was seen that they were not being creative or genuine and did not know the material. At the end of the research, it was observed that students have extended their knowledge and views about museums and historical artifacts. Within the scope of these findings, the points to be considered in raising history and culture awareness have been stated and suggestions have been presented.