Sosyal Bilgiler Öğretmenlerinin Öğretim Teknolojileri ve Materyalleri Kullanma Düzeyleri ve Kullanamama Sebepleri

Problem Statement: It is crucial to use visual materials in contemporary education process. It is a reality accepted by all educators that the best way to avoid from memorization of the knowledge is to prepare and use visual materials in classes that are convenient for the purpose. It is necessary to use visual materials to make the learning easy, interesting, to gain time and long lasting. Purpose of the Study: The aim of this study is to determine the material using level of the Social Studies Teachers working in primary schools in Amasya City. It is also aimed to find out their inability to use visual materials and recommend some solutions to overcome the problem. Method(s): Survey method was used for the study and it was carried out by using literature scanning. To determine the material using level of Social Studies Teachers and their inability to use them, a questionnaire developed by Sezer et. al. (2005) was used. Findings and Discussion: According to the questionnaire used on 75 Social Studies Teachers working in Amasya City, it was seen that 70 of them had BA degrees and 5 of them had MA degrees. 65 of them graduated from the Faculty of Education of different universities and 10 of them finished Science and Art Faculties. 58% of the teachers had an experience of 6-15 years in teaching. 68% of the teachers were taught teaching technologies and material development subject during their educational period. It was also understood that 89.3% of the teachers have never had in service training after they started teaching. Nevertheless, it is necessary for the sample group to get in service training about the material usage. Conclusions and Recommendations: It was realized that the most common used teaching materials by the Social Studies Teachers were computers, projectors, reference text books, internet and maps. It was also determined that all these mentioned materials were available in all schools. It was seen that the schools did not have the following materials which are crucial in teaching: collections (37.3%), slide machine (32%), video camera (29.3%), Picture and Picture sets (26.7%), solar system model (25.3%) and folio sets (25.3%). The other reality obtained from the study is that most of the teachers that participated in the study (89.3%) have never had in service training about the teaching with technologies and material usage. Related to the questionnaire and the results obtained from the study, the following recommendations are useful and should be taken into account to overcome the problem: 1-It is necessary for the Social Studies teachers to attend in service training about material usage in their teaching sessions without losing time. 2-The schools should be supported with the materials which are very useful for Social Studies classes. 3-The schools should provide special classrooms for social science and the teaching visual materials should be made ready to use during teaching. 4-The schools should be supportive by providing the reference text books and these books should be accredited. 5-The maps should be available on the walls of the classrooms that are designed for the Social Studies. 6-The classrooms should also have history timeline and the other visual materials which display the knowledge known by everybody on the walls. 7-The Social Studies teachers should be supported by their academic studies in their own fields of science.