Students’ opinions about teaching of the controversial topics in the social studies classes

Abstract

The aim of this study is to determine middle school 7th grade students’ opinions on controversial issues. In the research, screening model and quantitative research method has been used. The sample of the study consists of 7th graders from 5 public schools located on the center of Demirci district of Manisa province. The 5-point Likert-type questionnaire prepared with 20 items has been applied to 203 students. The data has been put into the statistical program and analyzed. By determining means, deviations and frequencies of all items in the survey, it has been tabulated and interpreted separately. “Mann Whitney U” and Kruskal Wallis H” tests have been used to find out whether the students' opinions about which subjects can be discussed in the classroom, shows significant difference according to various variables or not. Interpretation of the results has been done by the significance level of 0,5. According to the findings of the research, the topics that the students want to discuss the most in the classroom respectively are human rights, multiculturalism, election system, animal rights and freedom of the press. The topics that the students do not want to discuss in the classroom are terror and violence. When the results of the research has been examined according to various variables; Significant differences has been seen in different items, such as; The Gender (Military System, Religious Communities, Fanaticism and Cloning), Reading Books (TV Broadcasts), The Education of Father (Religious Communities, Multiculturalism), The Education of Mother (Military System, Religious Communities and Cloning), Father’s Profession (Religious Communities, Fanaticism, Internet and Elections System), Mother's Profession (Religious Communities) and Family Income Status (Internet).

Controversial issues: A mixed study with middle school students

“…The most common type is the one against women and children by men (Akkaş & Uyanık, 2016). On the contrary, in their study, Uygun and Arslan (2020) determined that 7 graders did not want to discuss the issue of violence in the classroom. The reason why the participants wanted this subject to be included maybe that violence against women was heavily covered in the media at the time the research was conducted, and they might have wanted to raise awareness about it.…”

“…There was a significant difference in favor of 7 graders in terms of freedom of the press and terrorism. In their study, Uygun and Arslan (2020) determined that human rights were the topic that 7 graders wanted to be included in the social studies course the most, but terrorism was the topic that most of the students did not want to be included.…”

“…Quantitative Data Collection Tool "Student Questionnaire for Controversial Issues", which was developed by Uygun and Arslan (2020), was used to collect the quantitative data of the study. In the first part of the scale, which consists of two parts, there was personal information about the students, and in the second part, there were 20 controversial issues rated on a 5-point Likert scale.…”

The Role of Argumentative Writing in Teaching Controversial Issues: A Mixed Methods Research

“…However, it seems that it has not been clearly shown in terms of where this road-map will lead or how the aforementioned skills should be acquired. Most studies conducted on controversial issues seem to have aimed at revealing such issues and determining the opinions of teachers, prospective teachers, academics, and students in this regard (Abu-Mamdan & Khader, 2014; Baloğlu Uğurlu-Doğan, 2016; Byford, Lennon & Russell, 2009;Cotton, 2006;Çepni & Geçit, 2020;Demircioğlu, 2016;Ersoy, 2013;Günal & Kaya, 2016;Hess, 2005;Nganga et al, 2020;Öntaş et al, 2021;Öztürk, 2017;Tatar, 2019;Yücel, 2018;Uygun & Arslan, 2020;Yazıcı & Seçgin, 2010;Rambosk, 2011). In the light of this information, answers were sought to the following research questions:…”

Efforts to Improve Numeracy Literacy Culture and History Learning Outcomes with the Problem-Based Learning Method for Class XII IPS 2 at SMAN 6 Metro

“…The research was conducted at SMAN 6 Metro, class XII IPS 2 with a total of 27 students in the 2018/2019 academic year.Sources of research data were obtained from attendance, daily test scores, results of student worksheets, respondents as research subjects, and collaborators as partners, who were used as data sources in the field during research activities.Data collection techniques and tools using test and non-test techniques(Habibi et al, 2020;Pratama et al, 2022;Uygun & Arslan, 2020;Wibowo et al, 2020).Tests are used to see the success of learning Indonesian, and non-tests use observation and documentation. Judging from this opinion, the analysis of the data was obtained through three stages, namely (1) data reduction (2) data presentation, and (3) drawing conclusions (data verification).…”