Examining the effect of scenario-based 4th grade life skills curriculum design on students' life skills

Life skills education aims to make students' lives easier by effectively using the knowledge they acquire at school in their daily lives. This training provides students with practical knowledge and experience, increases their independence and strengthens their sense of confidence. In this way, it allows them to become more competent individuals in managing their lives and solving problems. Teaching life skills during childhood can also help individuals be successful later in life. It has been observed that life skills are not presented as separate achievements in primary school curriculum, they are implicitly included in other achievements, and there are no guides or activity examples in the curriculum to help teachers on how to develop these skills. Therefore, a life skills curriculum designed with scenarios containing real-life situations can help students develop these skills. The aim of this study is to develop a life skills curriculum designed with a scenario-based learning model and examine its effect on students' life skills. The basic design of the research is a mixed method in which different quantitative and qualitative methods are used together. The program development process began with a needs analysis study designed according to a democratic approach. According to the findings obtained as a result of the needs analysis, 10 basic life skills were determined and the program development phase was started. As a result of the needs analysis study, a 10-week scenario-based learning model consisting of 10 life skills (critical thinking, creative thinking, planning, coping with emotions, self-management, self-awareness, empathy, communication, using information, being open to change) and life skills program design modules were prepared. The four basic dimensions of the program, namely target, content, educational situations and measurement-evaluation stages, were structured according to the needs analysis results. In this process, the life skills scale was also developed according to the determined life skills. Then, the life skills program designed with the scenario-based learning model was implemented as a pilot application, necessary corrections were made as a result of the application and then the 10-week actual application was carried out. The study group of the research consists of 20 students in the experimental group, 20 students in the control group, 10 parents and 1 practitioner studying at the public primary school in the central district of Uşak province in the first semester of the 2023-2024 academic year. "Life Skills Assessment Scale for Primary School Students", teacher interview form, parent interview form, student diaries, researcher diaries and researcher observation list were used as data collection tools. Quantitative data collection tools were applied before and after the application. During the implementation process, practitioner and student diaries were kept, observations were made, and end-of-module evaluation activities were implemented. After the implementation, student and parent opinions were taken and the effectiveness of the program was tried to be determined. According to the quantitative findings obtained at the end of the research, it was seen that the implementation of the scenario-based primary school life skills teaching program design had an impact on the life skills and mental habits of primary school students. Qualitative findings also showed that the program was largely implemented in accordance with its purpose and that the students achieved the targeted gains at a sufficient level. Keywords: Life skills, Primary school students, scenario-based learning.