An analysis of middle school social sciences textbooks published by private publishers in terms of map skills

The purpose of this research is to reveal the adequacy of maps in the "People, Places and Environments" learning area in Social Studies 5th, 6th and 7th grade textbooks published by private publishing houses for acquiring map skills. In line with the purpose of the study, qualitative research method was preferred and document analysis technique was used. As a data collection tool, the Map Review Form, which was prepared by Gürler (2022) and pre-applied, was used after obtaining the necessary permissions. In the study, a total of 32 maps in the determined learning area of the textbooks were analyzed separately through the Map Review Form. The study group of the research consists of Social Studies 5th, 6th and 7th grade textbooks published by private publishing houses and taught in schools affiliated to the Ministry of National Education in the 2023-2024 academic year. As a result of the evaluations made, it was determined that there were some deficiencies in terms of the basic elements that should be present in the analyzed maps. In some of the maps examined, it was observed that map title, legend, scale and direction arrow elements were not included. However, it was determined that the colors used in the maps were both distinct and distinguishable and the printing quality was good. In addition, when the textbooks and studies prepared in previous years are taken into consideration, it is observed that the findings have improved positively. Recommendations are listed in line with the findings obtained as a result of the research.