Trends of thinking skills in social studies and life studies courses: A meta-synthesis study

Abstract

In this study, the tendencies of the studies on thinking skills in Life Studies and Social Studies courses were determined. For this purpose, the study was carried out by the meta-synthesis method. The study group consists of a total of (n=100) articles and theses studies on thinking skills in Life Studies and Social Studies courses. Data were analyzed by document review. According to the meta-synthesis method, each study was coded, and divided into meta-themes. Then, each meta-theme was analyzed; and synthesized. According to the results of the research; It has been observed that the studies on thinking skills in Life Studies and Social Studies courses are mostly experimental design studies that measure the level of critical thinking skills. It was found that most of the studies were conducted in 2019 and the study group was "secondary school students". In addition, it has been observed that “simple random sampling and sample level and size in the range of 31-100 were used in the studies. Content analysis is the most common in qualitative data analysis; It was seen that t-test and ANOVA calculations were used most frequently in quantitative data analysis. It is one of the findings that the results of the studies mostly reported positive effects and opinions. In studies reporting negative effects and opinions, it found that teachers need training in teaching thinking skills.