The Effect of Orienteering Applications on Students' SpatialThinking Skills in Social Studies: The Case of Turkey

Abstract

Spatial thinking skills are competencies individuals will need in their lives in order to know andunderstand the world and to perceive the space correctly. In order for individuals to have thesecompetencies, effective traning in the development of spatial thinking skills should occur. Spatialthinking skills can be acquired through student-centered, active learning and orienteering activities, allof which can be applied in lessons as a type of game instead of through traditional teaching methods andtechniques. In this study, it is aimed to investigate the effect of spatial thinking skills on the orienteeringpractices of students' in primary school Grade 4 Social Studies course. The study group consists of atotal of 104 students: 51 students are in the experimental group and 53 students are in the control group.All participants are in Grade 4 at a primary school in Merkez district of Kastamonu province in Turkeyduring the 2019-2020 academic year. Lessons were taught with activities based on orienteering practicesin the experimental group, and curriculum-based instruction was conducted in the control group. In theresearch, one of the quantitative research methods was used as a quasi-experimental model with apretest-posttest control group. The Spatial Thinking Skill Test (STSS) developed by the researcher wasused as the data collection tool. As a result of the research, it was concluded that orienteering practicesare effective in developing students' spatial thinking skills. Orienteering is recommended to be used as ateaching technique in Social Studies lessons because it is an entertaining activity that enables learningby doing, the development of multi-faceted thinking, and the transference of spatial thinking skills todaily life.