The effect of problem based learning methods on the academic success of the social studies course and student attitudes

Social studies education has an important place in gaining many important target behaviors in our country and in the world. The new paradigms that have emerged in the changing and developing world have brought about many new regulations in education systems and learning environments. The aim of the innovative learning approaches is to train individuals who are away from the memorization, who are producers, who have problem-solving skills, and who can transfer what they have learned to real life. According to the stated objectives, this research has been carried out to determine the effect of problem based learning on academic achievement in 6th grade social studies course. In this research, pre-test and post-test design that has experiment control group has been used. In order to collect the research data; achievement test to measure students' academic achievement, social studies attitude scale, student feedback questionnaire, scenarios based on problem-based learning method and instructional materials suitable for classroom environment were developed and applied. In the analysis of the quantitative data obtained from the study, independent groups t-test, dependent sample t-test and frequency analysis were performed by using SPSS program. It was observed that there was no statistically significant difference between the students in the experimental group and the students in the control group in accordance with the results obtained from the statistical analysis regarding the data in the pre-test and attitude scale application. In this research; it has been concluded that the course, which is based on problem-based learning method practices, has a positive impact on the level of the students' success and attitudes towards social studies course to make a statistically significant difference, in comparison with the courses which are based on the curriculum guidebook prepared by the Ministry of National Education. Keywords: Academic achievement, problem based learning method, social studies, attitudes.