Investigation of the Earthquake Content in Social Studies Coursebooks within the Scope of Middle School Students' Views

Abstract

Earthquake is one of the issues of social studies education within the scope of being a phenomenon affecting social life. As a matter of fact, social studies is a course that deals with all the elements related to social life. Earthquake, which is an issue of social studies, should then be taught comprehensively due to its impact on individual and social life. For this very reason, the content related to earthquake in social studies coursebooks should be both adequate and appropriate for the particular levels. The aim of this study was to examine the content on earthquake in social studies coursebooks within the scope of the views of middle school students. The views of the students in 11 provinces affected by the earthquakes that took place in Kahramanmaraş province of Türkiye on February 6, 2023 were consulted. A basic qualitative design was used in the study. Maximum diversity and criterion sampling techniques were used to determine the participant group. A semi-structured interview form was resorted to with a view to collecting the data. Content analysis was utilized to analyze the data. In the study, it was determined that the students perceive earthquake as a disruptive phenomenon, that the students thought social studies course had an important role in teaching the concept of earthquake, that the students found social studies coursebooks insufficient on the elaboration of earthquake topic and thought that the books should be redesigned accordingly. Depending on the results, recommendations for researchers and education planners were made.