The impact of teaching the "people, places, and environments" learning area of the social studies course using the scamper technique on the academic achievement of 6th-grade students and students' opinions of this technique

This study aimed to examine the impact of using the SCAMPER technique in teaching the "People, Places, and Environments" learning area of the Social Studies course on the academic achievement of 6th-grade students, as well as their opinions of this technique. The research was conducted with 6th-grade students in a middle school in the Artuklu district of Mardin province during the first semester of the 2022-2023 academic year. The study included a total of 42 students, with 21 in the experimental group and 21 in the control group. The study was designed as a mixed-methods research. While the instruction in the experimental group was based on the SCAMPER technique, the control group received instruction based on the curriculum. In the quantitative dimension, a achievement test covering the "People, Places, and Environments" learning domain was developed by the researcher and administered as a pretest, posttest, and follow-up test to the experimental and control groups. The data were analyzed using the SPSS software. In the qualitative dimension of the research, the researcher collected the students' opinions regarding the SCAMPER technique using an interview form developed for this purpose. The obtained data were subjected to content analysis using the QSR Nvivo software. The results of the study indicated no significant difference between the pretest, posttest, and follow-up test scores of the experimental and control groups. However, a significant increase in academic achievement was found in the experimental group where the SCAMPER technique was applied. The increase in pretest and posttest scores and the high performance in the follow-up test demonstrated that the SCAMPER technique is effective and sustainable in enhancing academic achievement. Students' opinions about the SCAMPER technique revealed that it contributed to better understanding of the concepts, was enjoyable, fostered creativity, facilitated experiential learning, and the majority of students especially enjoyed writing stories as part of the activities. Moreover, most of the students expressed a desire for the Turkish language class to be taught using this technique and suggested the need for more technological support related to the technique. This study provides recommendations for practitioners in this field and offers a framework for future studies.