Examination of map usage in social studies curriculum and text book (2018)

Abstract

It has been determined that there is no study on the use of maps in the social studies curriculum (2018) and textbooks. Thus, this study prioritizes the analysis of students’ acquired facility and skills related to the field of maps in the 2018 social studies curriculum. The secondary analysis involves interpreting the usage of maps in social studies textbooks of Grades 5, 6, and 7 from a cartographic perspective. The focus here is on spatial perception skills, map literacy skills, and location analysis skills that are defined suitable of the map and that lead to the definition of text–map correlations. A qualitative research method was used, and the findings were obtained through document analysis. Data were evaluated through descriptive analysis, and a purposeful sample was used. The study investigated the social studies curriculum (2018); the Grade 5 social studies textbook (Anadolu Yayıncılık 2018); and the Grade 6 and Grade 7 social studies textbooks published by the Ministry of National Education. It was found that there were four gains related to map at Grades 5, 6, and 7. As a result some maps are inadequate which the legend of the pre-Islamic Arabian Peninsula maps to be inaccurate in the Grade 6 textbook. Another situation is that a migration map of Turkey in 2017 is convenient for map reading. It is suggested social textbook maps that have references are essential.