Developing the spatial thinking skill scale in the scope of social studies teaching

Abstract

The aim of this study is to develop a scale to determine the spatial thinking skills of secondary school students. The study group of the research consists of 700 5th, 6th, 7th and 8th grade students, who are educated in about 10 schools. During the development of the scale created within the scope of the social studies course curriculum, the relevant literature was scanned. A pool of 36 items was created within the framework of expert opinions, the number of items in the scale was reduced to 14 and a 5-point Likert-type draft scale was developed. The created STS (Spatial Thinking Skill) scale was piloted to 5 students separately from the study group, and some expressions that were not understood were arranged and finalized. As a result of the factor analyzes carried out to ensure the construct validity, it was seen that the STS scale consisted of 4 factors. The Cronbach Alpha coefficient was calculated to ensure the reliability of the scale, which was shaped as 14 items by factor analysis and 0.91 value was found. It can be said that the STS scale can be used in scientific research as a result of examining detailed expert opinions, examining the feedbacks from the study group, performing factor analyzes and revealing the validity/reliability coefficients. Using the STS scale developed in the current study, students' skill development can be examined from various perspectives.

Keywords

• Spatial Thinking Skill Scale
• Validity
• Reliability
• Social Studies Teaching
• Middle school

Kaynakça

1. Akengin, H., Tuncel, G., & Cendek, M. E. (2016). The social sciences teachers' opinions about developing map literacy of students. Marmara Geographical Review, (34), 61-69. Retrieved from https://dergipark.org.tr/en/pub/marucog/issue/24661/260863 at 14.12.2021.
2. Alımlı, E. (2007). Map use and map awareness (Unpublished master's thesis), İstanbul Technical University, Institute of Science and Technology, İstanbul
3. Bayram, N. (2015). Data analysis with SPSS in social sciences. Bursa: Ezgi Bookstore.
4. Büyüköztürk, Ş. (1997). Development of anxiety scale for research. Journal of Educational Management in Theory and Practice, 3(4), 453-464.
5. Çetinkaya, S. & Hatay Uçar, F. (2019). İnvestigation Of Middle School Students’ Attitudes Towards Social Studies: A Study of Developing a Scale. Kastamonu Education Journal, 27 (1), 25-35. DOI: 10.24106/kefdergi.2236
6. Field, A. (2009). Discovering statistics Using SPSS, London, 647-660.
7. Jo, I. (2011). Fostering a spatially literate generation: Explicit instruction in spatial thinking for preservice teachers. (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). Texas A&M University, Texas. https://oaktrust.library.tamu.edu/ adresinden 22.12.2021 tarihinde erişildi.
8. Karagözoğlu, A. G. (1966). Social studies teaching in primary schools. Ankara: MEB Publications.

9. Kline, T. (2005). Psychological testing: A practical approach to design and assessment. Sage Publications.
10. Köktürk, M. (2017). Philosophical inquiry into time. İstanbul: Ötüken.
11. Köşker, N. (2012). Thoughts of prospective class teachers on their spatial cognitive adequacy, Zeitschrift für die Welt der Türken/Journal of World of Turks, 4(3), 161-173.
12. http://dieweltdertuerken.org/index.php/ZfWT/article/view/412/kosker. Retrieved from 09.12.2021.
13. Lee, J., & Bednarz, R. (2012). Components of spatial thinking: Evidence from a spatial thinking ability test. Journal of Geography, 111(1), 15-26. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00221341.2011.583262 adresinden 22.12.2021 tarihinde erişildi.
14. Lee, J. W. (2005). Effect of gis learning on spatial ability. (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). Texas A&M University, Texas. https://www.proquest.com/openview/739efd8d6d9a9e067934efab8079375d/1?pq-origsite=gscholar&cbl=18750&diss=y adresinden 22.12.2021 tarihinde erişildi.
15. M.E.B. (2018). Social Studies Teaching (İlkokul ve Ortaokul 4,5,6,7. Sınıflar) Program. MEB Board of Education and Discipline, Ankara. Http://Mufredat.Meb.Gov.Tr/Programdetay.Aspx?Pıd=354 retrieved from 09.12.2021.
16. Metoyer, S., & Bednarz, R. (2017). Spatial thinking assists geographic thinking: Evidence from a study exploring the effects of geospatial technology. Journal of Geography, 116(1), 20-33. https://doi.org/10.1080/00221341.2016.1175495
17. Millî Eğitim Bakanlığı. (2005b). Primary school social studies lesson 6-7. classes syllabus and guide (draft Printing). Ankara: MEB.
18. National Research Council (2006). Learning to think spatially. Washington DC: National Academy Press. https://doi.org/0.17226/11019.
19. Oruç, Ş., & Akgün, İ.H. (2010). The acquisition level of graphic reading skills of elementary social studies 7th grada students. International Eurasian Journal of Social Sciences, 1(1), 51- 58.
20. Öztürk, M. (2012). Geography teachers’ perceptions of postmodern geography, Education and Science Journal, 37 (166), 262-274. Retrieved from http://egitimvebilim.ted.org.tr/index.php/EB/article/view/1568 at 13.12.2021
21. Şanlı, C. & Sezer, A. (2019). Teaching spatial thinking through geography disposition inventory: a validity and reliability study on its Turkish adaptation, Aegean Geographical Journal, 28 (2), 213-225. Retrieved from https://dergipark.org.tr/en/pub/ecd/issue/50833/582932
22. Şanlı, C. (2021). Developing a spatial thinking ability test. International Journal of Eurasia Social Sciences (IJOESS), 12(43), 1-18.
23. Turgut, M. F. & Baykul, Y. (2010). Measurement and evaluation in education. PegemA Publishing.
24. Ünlü, M., & Yıldırım, S. (2017). A geographical skill suggestion to geography teaching curriculum: spatial thinking skill, Marmara Geographical Review, 0 (35), 13-20. DOI: 10.14781/mcd.291018