Effective Learning Experiences of Middle School Students in Social Studies Lesson: A Narrative Inquiry

Social studies lesson purposes to provide students in primary and middle school levels with knowledge, skills and values related to daily life. The realization of this purpose of the social studies course is possible with the design of effective learning processes. In this research, whether the aforementioned purpose of the social studies lesson is realized or not is examined within the scope of middle school students experiences. The participant group of the research, in which narrative inquiry design from qualitative research methodology was used, included three middle school students. A semi structured interview forn that developed by the researcher was used to collect the data, and descriptive analysis technique was used in the analysis process. At the end of the research, it was determined that effective social studies teaching depends on the teaching style used in the classroom, the personality of the teachers and the use of various equipments in the lessons. In addition, in the study it was concluded that lessons in which students learn effectively contribute to students' academic achievement, participation in class and preparation for class. Depending on the results obtained in the research, recommendations for researchers and education planners were developed.