AN INVESTIGATION ON TEACHING MATERIALS USED IN SOCIAL STUDIES LESSON

The purpose of this study is to analyze the teaching materials employed during social studies lessons on the basis of certain variables. Specifically, the researcher tried to find out whether teachers’ gender, service length, having a personal computer, receiving an in-service training regarding the use of teaching materials, having an interest on using technological devices and sufficiency of the teaching materials in schools effect the usage of printeded materials, audiovisual materials or experience-giving methods (e.g. field trips, a visit to an institution) in social studies lessons. The data were collected from 160 teachers (N=87, female; N= 73, male) who worked in Istanbul and Sakarya during 2008-2009 spring semester. A scale was developed and applied by the researcher on the participating teachers to score and measure the usage of teaching materials in the Social Studies lessons. The results of the study showed statistically significant differences on the usage of printed materials and experience-giving methods based on the gender of the teacher and in service training, in favor of both female teachers and teachers who have received an in-service training. Moreover, statistically significant differences were also observed on the usage of print materials, experience-giving methods and the total score due to the service length of the teacher. The teachers, who have been working for 16-years or more, had significantly higher scores on the aforementioned variables.  In addition, it was found that if schools had sufficient materials/equipment, the teachers tended to use the teaching materials more in their lessons.  No correlation was found between the service length and the usage of audiovisual materials by teachers, as well as between having a personal computer and usage of teaching materials.