A Foundational Perspective for Spatial Thinking in Relation to Social Studies Curriculum and Middle-School Textbooks in Turkey

Year 2020, Volume: 10 Issue: 2, 30 - 57, 30.04.2020

Sezgin Elbay

https://doi.org/10.33403/rigeo.616984

Abstract

Social Studies is a middle-school course that unites social-science disciplines and contributes to developing an understanding about the social existence of humans. In that regard, one of the course objectives is to develop the acquisition of spatial thinking skills in students and studies reveal that students' spatial thinking abilities can be tested via several variables. Despite such practice, very few studies have yet examined the Social Studies Curriculum in relation to the inclusion of content and skills around spatial thinking. It is reported that existing studies have simply focused only on the 2005 Social Studies Curriculum and omitted focus on relevant textbooks. Within such a context the aim of the current study is to present the current state of spatial thinking skills in relation to the 2018 Social Studies Curriculum and middle-school textbooks in Turkey. Furthermore, the study aims to analyze the coordination that exists between curriculum and textbooks around spatial thinking. To achieve the aims of the current study, the technique of document analysis technique occurs through examination of Social Studies Curriculum and middle-school textbooks. By the end of this research it was detected that in the 5th grade, the total number of opportunities for students to gain or develop the skills of spatial thinking was 8, and the total number of units in the textbook about spatial thinking was 12; in the 6th grade, the total number of opportunities for students to gain or develop the skills of spatial thinking was 7, and the total number of units in textbook about spatial thinking was 12; and finally, in the 7th grade, the total number of opportunities for students to gain or develop the skills of spatial thinking was 3, and the total number of units in textbook about spatial thinking was 5. Based on these results it can be argued that in Turkey there is not a full coordination or alignment between the 2018 Social Studies curriculum and relevant textbooks about spatial thinking.

Keywords

Social Studies Curriculum, Middle-School Social Studies Textbooks, Spatial Thinking, Document Analysis, A Foundational Research

References

• Aydemir, M. (2017). Examination of middle school social sciences text books in terms of skills included in the middle school social sciences course curriculum. International Journal of Contemporary Educational Studies, 3(2), 1-17.
• Baloğlu Uğurlu, N., & Aladağ, E. (2015). The placing of spatial thinking in Turkish social studies education and social studies teachers’ opinion about this issue. Marmara Geographical Review, 35, 22-42.
• Bednarz, S. W. (2007). Proceedings in changing geographies: Innovative curricula. In S. Catling & L. Taylor (Eds.), mapping the way forward in an uncertain world: Spatial thinking and Geography (pp. 13-28). London: Institute of Education, University of London
• Behrmann, M., Geng, J. J., & Shomstein, S. (2004). Parietal cortex and attention. Current Opinion in Neurobiology, 14, 212–217.
• Carroll, J. B. (1993). Human cognitive abilities: A survey of factor-analytic studies. Cambridge University Press.
• Cohen, M. S., Kosslyn, S. M., Breiter, H. C., DiGirolamo, G. J., Thompson, W. L., Anderson, A. K., et al. (1996). Changes in cortical activity during mental rotation: A mapping study using functional MRI. Brain, 119, 89–100.
• Coolican, H. (2009). Research methods and statistics Psychology (5nd ed.). London: Hodder Education.
• Creswell, J. W. (2013). Qualitative inquiry & research design choosing among five approaches (3nd ed.). USA: Sage.
• Education Information Network (EIN), (2018). Secondary school social studies 5, 6 and 7th grade textbooks. http://www.eba.gov.tr/ekitap?channel=8.
• Epstein, R. A., Patai, E. Z., Julian, J. B., & Spiers, H. J. (2017). The cognitive map in humans: Spatial navigation and beyond. Nature Neuroscience, 20, 1504–1513.
• Feng, J., Spence I., & Pratt, J. (2007). Playing an action video game reduces gender differences in spatial cognition. Psychological Science, 18(10), 850-855.
• Gagne, R. M. (1988). The Conditions of Learning. New York: Holt Reinhart and Winston.
• Gardner, H. (1983). Frames of Mind: The Theory of Multiple Intelligences. New York: Basic Books.
• Glesne, C., & Peshkin, A. (1992). Becoming qualitative researchers an introduction. London: Longman Group Ltd.
• Golledge, R. G., & Stimson, R. J. (1997). Spatial Behavior: A Geographic Perspective. New York: Guilford Press.
• Huynh, N. T., & Sharpe, B. (2013). An assessment ınstrument to measure geospatial-thinking expertise. Journal of Geography, 112(1), 3-17.
• Karasar, N. (2017). Scientific research method: concepts, principles, techniques (32nd ed.). Ankara: Nobel.
• Karasu Avcı, E., & Faiz, M. (2018). Examining the skills and values in the “Effective Citizenship” learning domain of 4th and 5th grade social studies textbooks. International Journal of New Approaches in Social Studies (IJONASS), 2(1), 1-21.
• Kitchin, R. M., & Freundschuh, S. (2000). Cognitive mapping: Past, present, and future. London and New York: Routledge.
• Kitchin, R. M., & Freundschuh, S. (2018). Cognitive mapping: Past, present and future. London and New York: Routledge Taylor & Francis Group.
• Levine, S. C., Huttenlocher, J., Taylor, A., & Langrock, A. (1999). Early sex differences in spatial skill. Developmental Psychology, 35(4), 940-949.
• Lincoln, Y. S., & Guba, E. G. (1985). Naturalistic inquiry. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
• Lohman, D. F. (1996). Spatial ability and g. In I. Dennis & P. Tapsfield (Eds.), Human abilities: Their nature and measurement (p. 97–116). Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc.
• Madsen, L. M., & Rump C. (2012). “Considerations of how to study learning processes when students use GIS as an instrument for developing spatial thinking skills” Journal of Geography in Higher Education, 36(1), 97–116.
• Maxwell, J. A. (1992). Understanding and validity in qualitative research. Harvard Educational Review, 62(3), 279–300.
• McGee, M. G. (1979). Human spatial abilities: Psychometric studies and environmental, genetic, hormonal, and neurological influences. Psychological Bulletin, 86, 889–918.
• Merç, A. (2011). Spatial cognition and map-reading skills of students studying social studies education and pre-school education (Unpublished Mastery Thesis). Adnan Menderes Universty, Instıtute of Social Science, Aydın.
• Miles, M. B., & Huberman, M. A. (1994). An expanded source-book qualitative data analysis. London: Sage.
• Ministry of National Education (MoNE), (2018). Secondary education Geography lesson (9th, 10th, 11th and 12th grades) curriculum. Ankara. http://mufredat.meb.gov.tr.
• Ministry of National Education (MoNE), (2018). Social studies curriculum (primary and secondary schools 4, 5, 6 and 7 grades). Ankara. http://mufredat.meb.gov.tr.
• Mutluer, C. (2013). The views of social studies teachers about the skills contained in social studies (the example of İzmir Menemen). Turkish Studies, 8(7), 355-362.
• National Curriculum Standards for Social Studies (NCSS), (2014). The themes of Social Studies published on National Council for the Social Studies (http://www.socialstudies.org).
• National Research Council (NRC), (2006). Learning to think spatially: GIS as a support system in the K-12 curriculum. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
• Newcombe, N. S. (2010). Picture This: Increasing Math and Science Learning by Improving Spatial Thinking. American Educator, 34(2), 29-36.
• Newcombe, N., & Huttenlocher, J. (2000). Making space: The development of spatial representation and reasoning. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press.
• Öcal, A. (2014). New approaches in teaching social studies-1 in Turan, R., Sünbül, A.M. and Akdağ, H. (Eds.), rethinking the ability to perceive space in the Social Studies course (pp. 263-278). Ankara: Pegem Academi.
• Öcal, A. (2007). The study of spatial cognition skills of 6th grade students in Primary Education Social Studies course (Unpublished Doctoral Thesis). Gazi University, Institute of Education, Ankara.
• Örnkloo, H. (2007). Fitting objects into holes. On the development of spatial cognition skills. Acta Universitatis Upsaliensis. Digital Comprehensive Summaries of Uppsala Dissertations from the Faculty of Social Sciences 34. 84 pp. Uppsala.
• Patton, M. Q. (2014). Qualitative research and evaluation methods. Mesut Bütün, Selçuk Beşir Demir (Trans. Ed.), Translation from 3rd Edition, Ankara: Pegem Academy.
• Pehlivan, A., & Kolaç, E. (2016). Elements of the ich in open-formal education social studies textbooks and curriculum. Turkish Studies, 11(19), 655-670.
• Pellegrino, J. W., Alderton, D. L., & Shute, V. J. (1984). Understanding spatial ability. Educational Psychologist, 19(4), 239-253.
• Roberts, P., & Priest, H. (2006). Reliability and validity in research. Nursing Standard, 20, 41-45.
• Safi, H. (2010). Teachers' views on the development of the perception skill in the social studies curriculum (Unpublished Mastery Thesis). Marmara University, Institute of Education, İstanbul.
• Schultz, R.B., Kerski, J.J. & Patterson, T.C. (2008). The Use of Virtual Globes as a Spatial Teaching Tool with Suggestions for Metadata Standards. Journal of Geography, 107(1), 27-34.
• Shemyakin, F. N. (1962). Orientation in space. In Psychological Science in the USSR. B.G. Ananyev et al. (Eds). (Vol. 1), pp. 186-255. Washington: U.S. Office of Tech. Services (No. 11466).
• Spence, I., & Feng, J. (2010). Video games and spatial cognition. Review of General Psychology, 14(2), 92–104.
• Şahin, E. (2018). Secondary school and imam hatip secondary school social studies 5th grade textbook. Ankara: Anadol.
• Taş, A. M. (2007). Determination of teachers' views on new social studies textbooks. Selçuk University Journal of Social Sciences Institute, 1(17), 519-532.
• Tversky, B. (1993). Cognitive maps, cognitive collages, and spatial mental models. In Frank, A.U. and Campari, I. (Eds.) Spatial Information Theory: A Theoretical Basis for GIS, Proceedings COSIT ’93. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, 716, pp.14-24, Springer: Berlin.
• Ünlü, M., & Yıldırım, S. (2017). A geographical skill suggestion to geography teaching curriculum: Spatial thinking skill. Marmara Geographical Review, 35, 13-20.
• Yıldırım, A., & Şimşek, H. (2013). Qualitative research methods in the social sciences. Ankara: Seçkin.
• Yılmaz, F. K., Bayraktar, H., Özden, M. K., Akpınar, M., & Evin, Ö. (2018). Secondary school and imam hatip secondary school social studies 6th grade textbook. Ankara: MoNE.