The effect of elective religious courses on secondary school students' perception of religion (Hakkari province case)

This study examines the effects of elective religion courses on secondary school students' perception of religion. The aim of the research is to evaluate the impact of elective religion courses on secondary school students' perception of religion and to determine the level of education level of the parents of the students who choose these courses. In addition, the aims of the research are to determine the effect of elective religion courses on students' perceptions of religion and to determine whether the information obtained in these courses is used by students to solve the problems they encounter in daily life. This research was conducted using quantitative research methods and techniques. Within the scope of the research, a survey was administered to 200 students who preferred elective religion courses. However, since two students left some questions unanswered, a total of 198 students, 108 girls and 90 boys, were included in the evaluation. Survey method was used as data collection tool. In this study, the courses chosen by the students (Life of Prophet Muhammad, Holy Quran, Basic Religious Knowledge), the type of school they attended, their grade levels, their ages, and their parents' education and income levels were examined. The Kolmogorov-Smirnov test was used to examine whether the variables in our research survey were normally distributed. According to the Kolmogorov-Smirnov results, it was seen that the data did not meet the normality assumption, and nonparametric tests were used in the analysis of the data, and the variables were given with median, minimum, and maximum values. The "Mann Whitney U" test was used in the analysis of differences between two groups, and the "Kruskal Wallis H" test was used in the analysis of differences between 3 or more groups. Categorical variables were given with frequency and percentage values, and vi Pearson Chi-Square analysis was used in their comparisons. The findings obtained as a result of the research show that elective religion courses have an effect on students' perception of religion. In fact, students who choose these courses internalize the information they learn in the course, produce solutions to the problems they encounter in daily life, and expand their social circles by sharing the information they learn with their friends. In addition, in our study, the level of effect of elective religion courses on the daily life and personal development, religious knowledge and spiritual development, and religious perception of the participants did not differ according to the grade levels of the participants at school. We can attribute this situation to the similarity of course content and presentation formats. In the light of this information obtained directly from students who choose the course, the effects of the courses can be differentiated according to the class level by developing a curriculum and teaching materials that are student-centered or adapted to different learning levels.