Abstract:

The purpose of this study is to determine the effectiveness of instructional strategies administered by primary school Science and Social Sciences teachers based on the opinions of students, and to identify if there is any difference between teachers of the two courses in terms of the level that they carry out these activities. This study is descriptive in nature. 7th grade students at primary schools in Melikgazi, Kayseri, during the spring term of 2004-2005 formed the research universe of the study. There were 87 primary schools in Melikgazi when the study was conducted. Ten primary schools were identified by stratification method, and 7th grade students in one of the classes of each school were chosen randomly and assigned as the sample group of the study. There are totally 300 students (30 students from each school) in the sample. The findings of this study reveal that strategies in the instruction step of a lesson are not applied effectively. Most of the activities were found to be conducted occasionally in both groups. According to the results, teachers of Social Sciences were identified to be more productive and effective than those of Science course in the following areas: providing reinforcement and prompting, being understanding and affectionate, using course-related tools and instruments, and creating a classroom environment where students participate actively. Summary Lesson plan consists of three interwoven steps; preparation before the lesson, planning and administering the lesson, and follow-up activities. Effective teaching is based on a well-developed plan, a well-managed classroom, and an effective presentation. Making necessary preparations and planning before a lesson may contribute a lot to success of students. A teacher has to get prepared before the lesson and has to plan the presentation, instruction, and assessment activities of the lesson in order to maintain students' interest, to maintain participation, and to sustain students' motivation at a high level. Therefore, it is vital for teachers both to be informed about instructional strategies and to have related skills to carry out these strategies. Presentation, instruction, and assessment activities within a lesson plan display different characteristics and have distinct steps. Instructional strategies are more important in nature since this is the phase when teaching is administered and learning takes place. All the definitions, concepts, rules, formulae, and explanations are delivered to students during this step. The information flow in this phase is from simple to complex, from concrete to abstract, from known to unknown, and from immediate to far. Teachers should be aware of the stimuli that affect students' learning and should use them when needed. During the instruction step, teachers should create a setting that increases interaction among students, trains them on cooperation, and improve their self-confidence; should provide various sources of information; should encourage students to learn by discovering; and should make use of methods and instruments that assess students' performance. The purpose of this study is to determine the effectiveness of instructional strategies administered by primary school Science and Social Sciences teachers based on the opinions of students, and to identify if there is any difference between teachers of the two courses in terms of the level that they carry out these strategies. Since a survey/questionnaire is utilized for the above purpose, this study is descriptive in nature. Method Sample 7th grade students at primary schools in Melikgazi, Kayseri, during the spring term of 2004-2005 formed the research universe of the study. There were 87 primary schools in Melikgazi when the study was conducted. Ten primary schools were identified by stratification method, and 7th grade students in one of the classes of each school were chosen randomly and assigned as the sample group of the study. There are totally 300 students (30 students from each school) in the sample. Researchers visited all these schools and distributed the questionnaire forms personally. Then, students filled out the forms under the supervision of researchers. Instrument The first draft of the questionnaire used in this study was developed in accordance with the related literature. Afterwards, the draft version was analyzed by experts in educational sciences and teachers lecturing Science and Social Science in terms of its content validity, and all necessary corrections were completed. Then, the questionnaire form was applied to a group of students to see if the statements were clear or not. After all the revision efforts, the questionnaire including 21 items about both lessons was given its final form. Cronbach Alpha Reliability coefficient of the questionnaire was found to be 0.86. Findings and discussion The findings of this study reveal that strategies in the instruction step of a lesson are not applied effectively. Most of the strategies were found to be conducted occasionally in both groups. According to the results, teachers of Social Sciences were identified to be more productive and effective than those of Science course in the following areas: providing reinforcement and prompting, being understanding and affectionate, using course-related tools and instruments, and creating a classroom environment where students can participate actively. On the other hand, teachers of Science course were assessed as more able in encouraging whole-class participation. Teachers may make use of various teaching techniques and methods in the classroom providing that they are informed about instructional strategies that should be taken into consideration during both planning and administering steps of a lesson and about different instructional methods. So at certain intervals, teachers may get feedback from students regarding their own behaviors and may make necessary amendments accordingly. Teacher training institutions and programs may be improved in terms of equipment and service provided for students. Teachers might be guided to attend in-service training programs designed to compensate for their insufficiencies concerning preparation, administration, and assessment of a lesson, and to inform them about innovations in teaching.

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