PERCEPTION OF SPATIAL VARIATION IN ACTIVITIES PREPARED BY GIS IN GEOGRAPHY EDUCATION

Abstract

In this study, it is aimed to give students the ability to perceive spatial variation and to reveal the impact of the activities on students' course success by using Geographical Information Systems (GIS) in geography education. The study group consisted of a total of 60 students attending to the 10th grade of secondary school in 2018-2019 academic year, which was determined by appropriate sampling method in Berat Hayriye Cömertoğlu Anatolian High School in Alanya district of Turkey. In this quantitative study, pretest-posttest quasi-experimental research model was used. The courses were taught with traditional methods and GIS based activity techniques for the control and experimental groups, respectively. The data were collected with the help of the subject achievement test prepared by the researchers in accordance with the expert opinions in the field. At the end of the posttest, data were analyzed by performing t-test in SPSS 22.0. As a result, it was determined that the courses taught with GIS based activities gave students a higher level of perception of spatial variation skills compared to the courses taught with traditional methods. Also, it was clarified that the students in the course which were taught with GIS based activities were more successful.