Examination of multiple variables of learning strategies used by students in social studies lessons

This study intends to represent whether the learning strategies used by the students in social studies lesson vary by multiple variants (dominant intelligence, learning styles, gender, grade level, socio-economical status, mother?s education level, father?s education level, mother?s profession and father?s profession) or not. Learning strategies, learning styles and multiple intelligence data collection tools are used in this cross-sectional descriptive survey study. This study, using a restricted universe, was conducted with 1940 4th, 5th, 6th and 7th grade students from 4 different primary and secondary schools who were selected respectively through stratified and random sampling. Below are the conclusions of the study. 1. Within the context of Social studies lesson the 4th, 5th, 6th and 7th grade students use affective strategies most while they use the monitoring strategies least. However, they always use affective strategies, retrieval strategies, attention strategies and short-term memory storing enhancement strategies while they sometimes use encoding enhancement strategies and monitoring strategies. a) In Social studies course 4th grade students use affective and retrieval strategies most but they use encoding enhancement strategies and monitoring strategies least. b) In Social studies course 5th grade students use affective strategies most but monitoring strategies least. c) In Social studies course 6th grade students use affective strategies most but monitoring strategies least. d) In Social studies course 7th grade students use affective strategies most but encoding enhancement strategies and monitoring strategies least. 2. A meaningful difference between the students? intelligence domains and the strategies that they use (attention, short-term memory storing, encoding, retrieval, monitoring and affective strategies) was detected. 3. There is a meaningful difference between the students? learning strategies and all other strategies that they use except the retrieval strategies (attention, short-term memory, encoding, monitoring and affective strategies). 4. Attention strategies and affective strategies which are used by students vary by gender while short-term memory storing, encoding, retrieval and monitoring strategies do not. 5. There is a meaningful difference between the students? grade levels (4th, 5th, 6th and 7th grades) and the learning strategies they use (attention, short-term memory storing, encoding, retrieval, monitoring and affective strategies). 6. Attention and encoding strategies which are used by the students vary by socio-economical status but short-term memory storing, retrieval, monitoring and affective strategies do not. 7. Attention, short-term memory storing and encoding strategies do not vary by the student?s mother?s education status but retrieval, monitoring and retrieval strategies do. 8. There is not a meaningful difference between the learning strategies that the students use and their father?s education status (attention, short-term memory storing, encoding, retrieval, monitoring and affective strategies). 9. There is not a significant difference between all other strategies that the students use, except learning strategies, and their mother?s profession (attention, short-term memory storing, encoding, retrieval and monitoring strategies). 10. There is not a meaningful difference between the learning strategies that the students use and their father?s profession (attention, short-term memory storing, encoding, retrieval, monitoring and affective strategies). 11. 4th, 5th, 6th and 7th grade students mostly have a converger learning style and respectively accommodator, assimilator and diverger learning styles. 12. 4th, 5th, 6th and 7th grade students mostly have logical-mathematical intelligence domain and respectively interpersonal, linguistic, musical, bodily-kinesthetic, spatial and intrapersonal intelligence domains. Keywords: Social studies, learning strategies, learning styles, the multiple intelligences