The opinions of social studies teachers and 7th grade students on the use of a museum: Manisa sample

The aim of this study is to reveal the opinions and perspectives of social studies teachers and 7th grade students on the use of a museum in social studies courses. The research population, which was designed according to the descriptive survey model, consists of social studies teachers working in Manisa Metropolitan Center Şehzadeler and Yunusemre districts in the 2017-2018 academic year and middle school 7th grade students. The research sample involves 1397 middle school 7th grade students and 85 social studies teachers selected by simple random sampling from 19 different public schools. As a data collection tool, graded information collection form was used to determine the opinions of teachers and students in museum education. In the analysis of the data, frequency (f), arithmetic mean ( ) and percentage (%) values were used. According to study results, it was seen that social studies teachers expressed positive opinions about the effective use of museums. It was emphasized by the social studies teachers that museums increased students' awareness of history and students developed an awareness of preserving historical artifacts. It was also concluded that social studies teachers did not experience much difficulty during the museum visits and were willing to teach the courses in museums. The opinions and perspectives of the 7th grade students regarding the effective use of the museums were found as "somewhat agree". In addition, the students' opinions and perspectives about not willing to participate in the museum trips were found as "disagree". The results of the study showed that middle school students expressed positive opinions about the use of museums in social studies courses. Keywords: Social Studies, Museum Education, Middle School Students, Social Studies Teachers