Abstract:

The present study, which examines teachers' opinions on the use of memoirs in social studies course, was designed within the framework of instrumental case study design, from one of the case study designs. The study group of the research consists of 40 volunteer social studies teachers. The research data were collected through an online form containing open-ended questions. The obtained data were analyzed by content analysis in the NVivo 10 program. According to the findings obtained from the research, it was seen that the teachers were able to make explanations about the word “memoir” in general. Along with this, it has been determined that teachers mostly use memoirs in the teaching of historical subjects in the social studies course to increase the permanence of the learned information and make the subject interesting. In addition, it has been determined that teachers have opinions that memoirs should be used in the process of teaching social studies, taking into account certain criteria, especially suitability for the subject and learning outcome. However, it has been revealed that teachers do not have enough knowledge about the subject/learning outcomes that can be used for memoirs in the Social Studies Curriculum and they do not consider themselves fully professionally competent in the use of memoirs in social studies. On the other hand, it was determined in the study that some problems were experienced in the use of memoirs in the social studies course arising from the teacher, student, textbook and program. Finally, it was concluded in the study that the teachers had partial awareness of the educational value of the use of memoirs in the social studies course and they needed professional training on the effective use of memoirs in the social studies course.

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