The effects of using current events in the social studies course on students' sensitivity towards social problems

Today, educational institutions do not only take on the task of teaching but also aim to train individuals who are aware of society; raise awareness about social problems; and think about how they can contribute to society. Social studies course plays a significant role to achieve this goal. Students are expected to gain informations about how to solve issues and facts which they may face in social life, and become more sensitive towards social problems in the Social Studies course. Social Studies teachers can use current events as a resource to raise students' sensitivity towards social problems. Students have a chance to convert their theoretical knowledge into practice by this way. In this context, it can be said that using current events can be beneficial to make students sensitive towards social problems in the Social Studies course. The purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of using current events on the 6th grade students' sensitivity towards social problems. Study was carried out according to embedded experimental design which is one of the designs in mixed methods. The quantitative data was collected by means of pre-test/post-test experimental model with a control group and qualitative data was collected by means of semi-structured interview technique. In addition, structured observation was used to examine whether methods, techniques or activities, which can be used in using current events, were used by classroom teacher in control group or not. The participants of the study are consisted of students who were in 5B and 5D classes at Fahri Günay Secondary School in spring term of 2013-2014 academic year. Sensitivity towards social problems scale, which was developed by Öcal, Demirkaya and Altınok (2013), personal information form, semi-structured interview form and structured observation form were used as data collection tools. Besides, lesson plans and teaching materials, which were prepared by researcher, were used in experiment period. The statistical analysis of the quantitative data of the study was computed through Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) software program. While, independent sample T Test was used for the computation of pre-test points between experiment and control groups and post-test points between experiment and control groups, paired sample T Test was used for the computation of pre-test and post-test points of experiment groups and for the computation of pre-test and post-test points of control group. Qualitative data of this study was analyzed through descriptive analysis technique. With the reference to the sensitivity towards social problems of the students, the findings of the study revealed that there is a statistically significant difference on behalf of experiment group, where the course subjects were taught by means of current events, in post-test points. There is also statistically significant difference between pre-test and post-test points of experiment group whereas there is not any significant difference between pre-test and post-test points of control group. In other words, findings showed that teaching through using current events in the social studies course have positive effect on both group and time factor. Besides, semi-structured interviews revealed that students have positive opinions about Social Studies course where subjects were taught through current events. Students pointed out that they gained awareness about social problems and teaching Social Studies through using current events created behavioral changes and in themselves. On the basis of research results, it is advised that Social Studies teachers can benefit from current events to enhance students' sensitivity towards social problems. Besides, researchers can conduct researches about effects of current events on different dependent variables and effects of different variables on sensitivity towards social problems. Additionally, researchers also advice that researches about both Social Studies and social problems can be conducted in different research designs.