Abstract:

Expressing the existing content in different ways in social studies teaching is very important in terms of achieving the purpose of educational activities. Thus, diagrams, graphics, and visuals should be used in teaching social studies. One of the materials used in social studies lessons is infographics. Exploring the effect of infographics in social studies teaching is important in understanding the value of infographics as teaching materials. This study focused on the use of infographics and investigated the effects of using infographics in teaching social studies on students' academic achievement. The study used a quantitative experimental research design (Pretest-Posttest Control Group Random Design). The sample consisted of fifth-grade students attending a middle school in the city center of Artvin in the 2018-2019 academic year. The data were collected using an Achievement Test developed by the researcher. For the purpose of the study, an experimental group and control group were formed. The "Global Connections" learning domain was taught to the experimental group using the infographics designed by the researcher and to the control group through the way specified in the curriculum. The academic achievement of the experimental group and the control group was compared. The data were analyzed using the Mann-Whitney U test and Wilcoxon signed-rank test. As a result of the research, it was found that the academic achievement scores of the participants in the experimental group showed a statistically significant difference in favor of the experimental group compared to the control group. In other words, infographic assisted instruciton positively affects academic achievement. In line with the results obtained, it is suggested that infographic can be used as a teaching material in social studies lessons and that infographic design-application studies can be done for different subjects.

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