Özet:

History beginning with the invention of writing has brought along thousands years old life experiences. The topic of history has been wars, disasters, victories, heroes, countless events like these, and people and phenomenon. It is necessary to determine which or what kind of events are worth to be learned and known or in other words, which events have historical significance within this long process. While the students are learning a historical event, they want to learn why that event is important and what effects can be seen today. Within this context, the aim of this study is to determine whether the opinions of high school students about the significance of historical events differ in terms of some variables. Screening model was used in this study. The participants of the study were composed of 237 students studying at Tokat Anatolian High School in 2012-2013 academic year. The data were obtained through Historical Significance Scale (HSS), which was developed by the authors. Using this scale, the perceptions of students about the historical significance of events were determined depending on some variables (year, gender, interest, and department). Independent-samples t-test, one-way Anova,hom ogeneity test, Scheffe test and descriptive statistics were used for the analysis of the quantitative data. In addition, the values of the descriptive statistics of the items of HSS were examined. (Arithmetical average, frequency and percent) In the light of those Historical Significance Scale (HSS) results were attained findings: i)There are significant differences in high-schoolers’ perceptions and opinions about the significance of historical events in accordance with their interest levels in history course while there are no significant differences according to the gender, grade and department, ii) the students think that complex events which include political, military and social points are more important than one-way events.

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