Abstract:

The present study aimed to evaluate question types used in high school geography coursebooks in Turkey and analyze them based on the Revised Bloom’s Taxonomy. Two forms were prepared in order to analyze the data. A total of 1940 questions were analyzed in this study. Descriptive statistics (percentages/ frequencies) were utilized in the analysis of the data. The results indicated that “open-ended questions” and “matching questions”, among traditional assessment tools, were the most frequently used type of questions across the four coursebooks. Additionally, the analyses suggested that “open-ended” and “multiple-choice” questions have been mainly used at the “understanding” level of cognitive process dimension across all coursebooks. On the other hand, it was found that matching questions were predominantly used at the “application” level in the 9th grade coursebook, “remembering” level in the 10th and 11th grade coursebooks, and “understanding” level in the 12th grade book. The check lists included in the coursebooks were mainly at the application level. “Gap filling” questions were found to have predominantly been used at the “understanding" level in the 9th grade coursebook and “remembering” level in the 10th, 11th, and 12th grade coursebooks. As for the knowledge dimension analysis, it was found that the open-ended and multiple-choice questions were mainly used at the “conceptual knowledge” level across the four coursebooks. Matching questions were generally used at the “conceptual knowledge” level in the 9th and 12th grade coursebooks, and at the “factual knowledge” level in the 10th and 11th grade coursebooks. Checklist used in the 11th grade coursebook were at the “procedural knowledge” level, and “conceptual knowledge” level in the 10th and 12th grade coursebooks. In the light of these results, it is understood that questions within the geography coursebooks (9th, 10th, 11th, and 12th grades) were commonly used at the “understanding and remembering” levels within the cognitive process dimension, and at the “conceptual and factual knowledge” levels within the knowledge dimension.

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