Values education through comics in social studies course: A mixed-methods study on the value of benevolence

In today's world, where negative social phenomena are on the rise, the importance of values and the growing need for individuals who have internalized these values have become more evident. Educational institutions play a crucial role in addressing this need. Indeed, many studies emphasize that the primary objective of educational institutions is to cultivate moral, characterful individuals committed to their values. In this context, the social studies course has an important place in values education at the middle school level. This thesis aims to examine the effects of reading original and educational comic books, prepared to align with the values education dimension of the 6th-grade social studies course, and creating digital comic books on the middle school students' benevolence tendencies, their views on benevolence, cognitive structures, and academic achievements. The presentation of abstract concepts such as values through comics, where images and text are harmoniously integrated, has the potential to enhance the effectiveness of the values education process. The study employed an embedded mixed-methods design, a type of advanced mixed-methods design. The research group consisted of 71 sixth-grade students from three different classes: two experimental groups and one control group. Quantitative data were collected using the Benevolence Tendency Scale, the Word Association Test, and the Academic Achievement Test, all developed by the researcher. Qualitative data were obtained through an interview form on the value of benevolence, an interview form regarding the implementation process, reflective student journals, and observation data. The implementation phase of the study was completed over five weeks, with three class hours per week for each group. During this process, one experimental group created digital comics related to the value of benevolence, while the other experimental group read educational comics prepared by the researcher on the same value. The control group followed the existing curriculum. The findings revealed that both creating digital comics and reading ready-made comics had similar impacts on the value of benevolence. However, these two distinct practices were more effective than the implementation of the existing curriculum in enhancing students' tendencies and perspectives toward benevolence. Similarly, both practices had a positive impact on students' cognitive structures. Interviews and observation data from the implementation process showed that both experimental implementations were appreciated by students. Students described the processes of creating digital comics and reading educational comics as engaging, entertaining, exciting, and instructive. Finally, students in both experimental groups expressed that the process provided them with significant benefits in various aspects. It was also found that students in the digital comics creation group gained more, particularly in terms of skill development, compared to those in the educational comics reading group.