The use of mass communication tools in social information teaching according to the perceptions of social information teacher candidates

The aim of the study is to determine the perceptions of social studies teachers regarding the use of mass media in social studies teaching. Within the scope of this purpose, the opinions of the teachers working in secondary schools are gender, marital status, educational status, professional seniority, whether there are any social media tools used by teachers, and whether the perceptions of teachers of social studies differ significantly according to the variables of active use of the internet. It is intended to determine. In line with the stated purpose, descriptive sequential pattern, one of the mixed method designs, was used in the research. In this pattern, the researcher starts the research by managing a quantitative stage first and starts looking for specific results with a second qualitative stage. In this context, the study group of the research was determined separately for quantitative and qualitative data. In order to collect the quantitative data of the research, the students studying in the Department of Social Studies Teaching at the Education Faculties of İnönü University were determined as the universe. Because the universe is accessible to collect quantitative data, no sampling has been made. In order to collect qualitative data of the research, maximum diversity sampling type was used. In line with the maximum diversity sample type, teacher candidates from each class were included in the study. In this context, a total of 20 teacher candidates, including five teacher candidates from each class, were sampled to collect the qualitative data of the research. Within the scope of the research, a data collection set consisting of two parts was used. In the first part of the data set, there are questions to determine the personal information of prospective teachers participating in the research, while in the second part, there are items related to the "Questionnaire for the Use of Mass Media in Teaching Social Studies" developed by the researcher. In the research, it has been determined that the general average of the pre-service teachers' perceptions about the use of mass media in teaching social studies is at the level of "I agree". This situation can be interpreted as the pre-service teachers' positive opinions about the availability of mass media in social studies education. In addition, in the research, in the variable of "Function" in the gender variable, in the "Benefit" sub-dimension according to the class variable in which education is being studied, in the sub-dimensions of the "Function" and "Benefit" sub-dimension according to the follow-up variable, watching the television in the "Benefit" sub-dimension according to the radio listening status variable. According to the variables of internet usage, social media tools and smartphone usage, it was concluded that the pre-service teachers' perceptions regarding the use of mass media in social studies teaching differed significantly. Keywords: Communication, Mass Communication, Social Studies, Social Studies Teaching