The Effect of the Strategy (Summarizing in Groups) on the Acquisition of Concepts and Critical Thinking Among Sixth Grade Primary School Students in Social Studies

Abstract

The research aims to explore the effect of the strategy of summarizing in groups on the acquisition of concepts and critical thinking among sixth-grade primary school students in social studies. To achieve this, the researcher chose a sample of 67 male and female students from the sixth primary school. affiliated with the second Karkh Education Directorate. The sample was divided into 33 male and female students for the experimental group and 35 male and female students for the control group. The researcher's sample was tested based on chronological age calculated in months and academic achievement for mothers and fathers, an intelligence test, and a pre-critical thinking test. After the researcher identified the scientific subject, the researcher identified 42 main and subsidiary concepts and formulated 126 behavioral objectives. The researcher developed model teaching plans for each of the specified topics for the experiment. In order to measure the acquisition of concepts and critical thinking among the students of the two research groups, the researcher designed two tests. The first was a concept acquisition test consisting of 36 items and a critical thinking test composed of 45 items. The results showed the superiority of the experimental group over the control group in the two tests: acquiring concepts and critical thinking. The researcher also concluded the effectiveness of the summarization strategy in groups in acquiring concepts and critical thinking among the female students of the class. The sixth grade in social studies, compared to the traditional method, is an important goal advocated by all conferences and modern educational literature. The researcher recommended implementing the new teaching methods in teaching social studies.