Using the drama method in developing financial literacy in social studies course: An action research

The aim of this research is to prepare action plans for the development of financial literacy skills in the 4th grade Social Studies curriculum and to help students develop financial literacy skills. The research was conducted with action research design, one of the qualitative research designs. The study group of the research consists of 20 students studying in the 4th grade of a public school in Altınekin district of Konya province in the second semester of 2021-2022 academic year. Due to the scope of the action research, the researcher made in-class observations in the first semester of the 2021-2022 academic year to get to know the students closely and conducted interviews with the classroom teacher to get information about the students. The problem statement of the research: "How do the action plans (drama method) prepared for the development of students' financial literacy skills in the Social Studies course curriculum contribute to students' acquisition of financial literacy skills?" and data were collected within three sub-problems. Firstly, academic achievement test was applied to determine the current situation of the students. Then, five action plans were designed by the researcher. The action plans, which were prepared as lesson plans including drama method, were applied to the study group between 28 February and 3 June 2022 during Social Studies class hours. In this process, data were obtained through video recordings, researcher and teacher diaries, validity committee meeting reviews, worksheets, and student products. Data collection and analysis were carried out simultaneously due to the nature of action research. After the implementation part was over, the academic achievement test was applied to the students again and according to the results of the dependent samples t-Test, it was determined that there was a statistically significant difference in the mean scores of the study group students on the effect of drama method on the development of financial literacy skills. In addition, as a result of semi-structured interviews with the students, the students stated that they achieved success with drama applications. With this study, it is concluded that action research involving drama applications with primary school students for the development of financial literacy skills will make a significant contribution to the gap in the literature.