Evaluation of students' opinions on the effects of fifth grade social studies and Turkish language curriculum in gaining basic skills offered in the new primary school curriculum (case of Diyarbakır city)

ABSTRACTMasters ThesisAn Evaluation of Students? Opinions on the Effects of Fifth Grade Social Studies andTurkish Language Curriculum in Gaining Basic Skills Offered in the New PrimarySchool Curriculum(Case of Diyarbakır City)Ayşe Ülkü KANUniversity of FiratInstitute of Social SciencesDepartment of Educational SciencesApril-2006, Pages: XXII+288The aim of this study is to determine fifth grade primary school students? opinions onthe effectiveness of the fifth grade Social Studies and Turkish Language Curriculum ingaining eight basic skills offered in the New Primary School Curriculum that wasimplemented as a pilot application in 2004-2005 academic year. The present study tries toexplore if there are any statistically significant differences among students? opinions in termsof gender and school level variables. In the framework of this aim, following question wasanswered; Do the students? opinions change towards the effectiveness of the New SocialStudies and Turkish Language Curriculum in gaining critical thinking, creative thinking,research, problem solving, giving decision, enterprising, communication skills and the skill ofusing Turkish correctly, better and effective in terms of gender and school level variables?This is a descriptive study and was conducted on 600 primary school students enrolledin five different primary schools in Diyarbakır city where the new primary school curriculumtrial was conducted. In terms of gender, 48,0 percent of the students are females (n=288) 52,0percent of the students are males (n=312). In terms of school where the students are enrolled,24,0 percent of them are enrolled in nönü Primary School (n=144), 19,8 percent of them areenrolled in Öğretmen Mehmet Sabri Güzel primary School, 20,0 percent of them are enrolledin Kazım Karabekir Primary School (n=120) and 13,5 percent of them are enrolled in ŞehitNamık Tümer Primary School (n=81). The data of the study were collected using twodifferent scales named The Scale of the New Social Studies Curriculum and The Scale of theNew Turkish Language Curriculum. Both scales were developed by the researcher of thepresent study. The Scale of the New Social Studies included 103 items and The Scale of theNew Turkish Language Curriculum included 100 items asking the students to rate theiropinions about eight main skills aimed at the New Primary School Curriculum.The scale was administered on 194 students enrolled at five pilot schools in Diyarbakırcity center for validity and reliability analyses and a factor analysis of the collected data wasperformed. The reliability of the scales was tested through Cronbach alpha reliabilitycoefficient. Both scales were found to be reliable (Cronbach alpha= 0,96). At the result offactor analysis, KMO value was found to be 0,731; Bartlett?s test was measured as 11665,286for the Scale of the New Social Studies Curriculum and KMO was found to be 0,720;Bartlett?s test was measured as 11611,593 for the Scale of the New Turkish Primary SchoolCurriculum. Bartlett?s test results were found to be significant (p<0,05) for both scales.The findings of the study were evaluated in terms of two gender and school levelvariables. In a prior examination, when the distribution of the data was found to be nonnormal, non-parametric statistical techniques were used in the analyses of the data obtainedfrom the study. Among the techniques used are Kruskal-Wallis H for testing the differences interms of school level variable, Mann-Whitney U for testing gender differences. In the case asignificant difference was found in Kruskal-Wallis test, Mann-Whitney U test was usedfurthermore to determine among which specific groups the difference was significant. Whenthe distribution of the data was found normal, parametric statistical techniques, one wayanova and independent groups t test, were used. Scheffe and LSD were used to determineamong which groups the views differed.The New Primary School Turkish Language and Social Studies curricula were foundto be effective in gaining eight basic skills (critical thinking, creative thinking, research,problem solving, giving decision, enterprising, communication skills and the skill of usingTurkish correctly, better and effective). Girl students found Turkish Language and SocialStudies curricula more effective in gaining eight basic skills than the boy students. It was alsodetermined that the students in schools having better socio-economic conditions found bothcurricula more effective in gaining eight basic skills than those in school having lower socio-economic conditions. In the direction of the data obtained from the study it is offered that theschools should be better equipped, the teachers, administrators and parents should be inormedabout the new curriculum in order to increase the effectiveness of the New Primary Schoolcurricula.Key words: Primary School, New Social Studies Curriculum, New Turkish LanguageCurriculum, Skills, Student-Centered Instruction, Constructivism