Evaluation of the social studies course on Education Information Network (EBA) in accordance with the opinions of pre-service teachers

Abstract

The Fatih Project has been one of the big steps in the field of education in Turkey, which aims to reflect the developments in technology and communication to education. The Education Information Network (EBA), which was created in 2011 within the scope of the project, was put into service as an online platform for integrating technology with education. With the introduction of distance education in line with health and safety measures during the COVID -19 outbreak, the usage area and importance of the EBA has increased. Various courses and teaching materials suitable for all education levels was provided through this platform. The aim of the current study is to reveal the opinions of pre-service teachers about the social studies course delivered on the EBA during the pandemic process. Case study, one of the qualitative research models, was used in the current study. 25 pre-service social studies teachers who voluntarily participated in the study watched a total of 75 lessons delivered from July to October for 5^th, 6^th, 7^th grade students and evaluated those lessons in terms of attention-drawing, motivation, teaching methods and techniques, teaching materials, evaluation and communication elements. "Course Evaluation Form" was used as data collection tool. Content analysis was carried out on the evaluations made by the teachers. According to the pre-service teachers, the attention-drawing phase of the social studies lessons delivered through the EBA was neglected in most of the lessons, and the teaching method was limited to the method of lecture, question-answer, and case method. In addition, it was determined that while the evaluation phase of the courses was insufficient, the use of teaching materials was sufficient. Some characteristics of the teachers who teach the lessons such as the tone of voice and body language were generally found to be sufficient.

Keywords: Education Information Network, social studies, teachers’ opinions