Interpretations of the 5 th grade ages 10-11 Turkish students’ historical knowledge based on historical sources

This study aims to determine the ways how the 5th grade ages 10-11 students interpret historical knowledge based on historical sources. To study this student were given a worksheet containing historical sources and an open-ended question based on the historical sources. The data of this study is collected through one of the answers provided to the question by 150 students in elementary school. The data has been categorized under themes which have been created after study of students answers and related literature. The analysis of data demonstrate that pupils can interpret historical knowledge in the sources. Also it has been found that most of the pupils were able to synthesis their prior knowledge and information in the historical sources presented to them and were able reach personal conclusion. Yet some of the students tend to copy the information as is written on the historical source or respond emotionally. This study supports the idea that 5th grade ages 10-11 students can read historical written sources and acquire historical information. Also this study gives information to social studies teachers on what consider when they prepare historical task for elementary school. Keywords Teaching history, social studies education, elementary school students, primary sources, historical reading

___

  • Arık, Feda Şamil (1991). Plague in Anatolia in Seljuk period, Ankara University Journal of Historical Studies, 15 (26), 27- 57. http://acikarsiv.ankara.edu.tr/browse/2348/
  • Aytaçlı, B.& Gündoğdu, K. (2018). Opinions of the teachers instructing in the fifth grade math course for the first time through the 4+4+4 System. Adnan Menderes University Faculty of Education Journal of Educational Sciences, 9(1), 12-30.
  • Barton, K. (1994). “I just kinda know”: Elementary student´s ideas about historical evidence. Theory and Research in Social Education, 25(4), 407–430. doi:10.1080/00933104.1997.10505821
  • Brandmo, C., Bråten, I. & Schewe, O. (2019). Social and personal predictors of test anxiety among Norwegian secondary and postsecondary students. Social Psychology of Education, 22(1), 43-61.
  • Brugar, K.& Roberts, K. (2018). Elementary students’ challenges with informational texts: Reading the words and the world. The Journal of Social Studies Research, 42(1), 49-59.
  • Bozkurt, B. Ü. (2016). A report on reading instruction in Turkey: Implications from PISA scale. Abant İzzet Baysal University Journal of Education Faculty, 16(4), 1673-1686.
  • Dilek, D. (2009). The reconstruction of the past through images: An iconographic analysis on the historical imagination usage skills of primary school pupils. Educational Sciences: Theory & Practice, 9 (2), 633-689.
  • Dutt-Doner, K.M., Cook-Cottone, C. & Allen, S. (2007). Improving classroom instruction: Understanding the developmental nature of analyzing primary sources, RMLE Online Research in Middle Level Education, 30(6), 1-20.
  • Harnett, P. (1993). Identifying progression in children’s understanding: The use of visual materials to assess primary school children’s learning in history. Cambridge Journal of Education, 23 (2), 137-154. doi:10.1080/0305764930230203
  • Harris, L. M., Halvorsen, A., & Aponte-Martínez, G. (2016). “[My] family has gone through that”: How high school students determine the trustworthiness of historical documents. The Journal of Social Studies Research. doi:10.1016/j.jssr.2015.06.007i
  • Khawaja, A. (2018). Designing an assessment tool for historical literacy: the case of Copernicus. Nordidactica – Journal of Humanities and Social Science Education, 3, 1-26.
  • Kızılay, N. & Doğan, Y. (2014). Archeology in classroom: An action research upon developing the historical thinking skills of 6th grade students, Fırat University Journal of Social Science, 24(2), 85-107.
  • Lee, P. J. ve Ashby, R. (2001). Empathy, perspective taking, and rational understanding. O. L. Davis, E. A. Yeager, S. J. Foster. (Eds.), Historical Empathy and Perspective Taking in the Social Studies (pp.21-50). Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
  • Merriam, S. B. (2009). Qualitative research: A guide to design and implementation. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
  • Miles, M. B. & Huberman, A. M. (1994). Qualitative data analysis: An expanded sourcebook. Sage Publishing.
  • MEB. (National Ministry of Education) (2018). Social studies curriculum (Primary and Secondary 4, 5, 6. and 7. grades), Ankara.
  • Özbaş Çulha, B. (2010). Progression in historical thinking among students ages 12-14 using historical evidence (Doctoral dissertation). Dokuz Eylül University, Institute of Educational Sciences, İzmir.
  • Rantala, J. & Khawaja, A. (2018). Assessing historical literacy among 12-year-old Finns. The Curriculum Journal, 29 (3), 354-369.
  • Reisman, A. (2012). ‘The “document-based lesson”: bringing disciplinary inquiry into high school history classrooms with adolescent struggling readers’. Journal of Curriculum Studies, 44 (2), 233–264. doi:10.1080/00220272.2011.591436
  • Seixas, P. (2006). Benchmarks of historical thinking: A framework for assessment in Canada. Centre for the study of historical consciousness. http://archive.historybenchmarks.ca/documents/benchmarkshistoricalthinkingframework- assessment-Canada.
  • Shanahan, C., & Shanahan, T. (2014). Does disciplinary literacy have a place in elementary school? The Reading Teacher, 67(8), 636– 639.
  • Stahl, K.A.D. (2014). What counts as evidence? The Reading Teacher, 68(2), 103– 106.
  • Şahin, E. (2018). Secondary school 5. grade social studies textbook. Ankara: Anadol Publishing.
  • Topçu, E. ve Kaya, B. (2014). Evaluation of fifth grade students in terms of social studies teacher. International Journal of Eurasia Social Sciences, 5(16), 111 -131.
  • Van Drie, J., & Van Boxtel, C. (2008). Historical reasoning: Towards a framework for analyzing students’ reasoning about the past. Educational Psychology Review, 20 (2), 87-110. doi:10.1007/s10648-007-9056-1
  • VanSledright, B. (2002). In search of America’s past. Learning to read history in elementary school. New York, NY: Teachers College Press.
  • VanSledright, B. and Afflerbach, P. (2005). Assessing the status of historical sources: an exploratory study of eight US elementary students reading documents. In R. Ashby, P. Gordon, & P. Lee (eds.), Understanding history: Recent research in history education. London: Routledge Falmer, pp. 1–20.
  • Wineburg, S. (2001). Historical thinking and other unnatural acts: Charting the future of teaching the past. Philadelphia: Temple University Press
  • Yeşilbursa, C.C. (2015). Middle school student’s perceptions’ of history. Journal of Gazi Education Faculty. (GUJGEF), 34(3), 415-436.
  • Yıldırım, A. & Şimşek, H. (2005). Qualitative research methods in social sciences (5th ed.). Ankara: Seçkin publications.