Abstract:

One of the important disciplines included in the social studies course is geography. The knowledge and thoughts produced by social sciences take place in their own unique geographical spaces. In this context, disciplines such as history, sociology and economics cannot be isolated from geographical space. In short, there can be no social sciences without geography. Just as there would be no Social Sciences without Geography, there would be no Social Studies. In this context, the research was carried out in order to reveal the perceptions of the geography discipline in the minds of the students, which is included in the social studies curriculum. The study group of the research consists of 200 8th grade students studying in 2 official secondary schools affiliated to the Ministry of National Education in the province of Sakarya in the 2021-2022 academic year. The word association test was used as a data collection tool in the study. The collected data were analyzed by descriptive analysis method. As a result of the research, students; It has been concluded that their perceptions about the concept of geography differ from each other, the frequency of word associations about the concept of geography is low, they make correct associations about the concept of geography, but the students also have some misconceptions.

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