Abstract
The general purpose of the research is to analyze the content of social education books for the fourth and fifth grades of elementary school based on metacognitive skills. Descriptive research method and basically a "research" Content analysis " is The statistical population of the research is the social studies textbook of the fourth and fifth grades of elementary school and the units of analysis of all texts, images, class activities and questions. The research tool is a checklist compiled by the researcher, which has 3 main components and 13 sub-components, according to which the contents of the books are coded and the information collected in separate tables for each lesson and both books of elementary school social studies. The final analysis of this research, which shows the amount and importance of metacognitive components in the content of books, was done through descriptive statistics. In a general analysis, it was determined that among the main and sub-components of metacognition in the fourth grade social education book in the geography section, information processing and homework knowledge; In the history section, homework knowledge and information processing, and in the civics section, homework knowledge and self-knowledge were more effective in the content of the mentioned book, and in the fifth elementary social education book, in the geography, history, and civics sections, the homework and processing knowledge components were more effective. and also The components of anxiety, modeling, choosing the main idea, attitude and motivation have been the least effective.
Keywords: content analysis, social education book, Metacognition skill
Chapter One
Generalities
Introduction
Education and education systems, even historical periods, present and transmit meanings, concepts, thoughts, values, skills, vocabulary and words and techniques to the new generation as a product in the form of educational topics and content. The book is the most important, oldest and most common tool for education. Textbooks are not only responsible for primary education, but as an external stimulus in the social education of people, creating motivation towards various personal and social goals and biasing people towards the expected goals of accepting people and new ideologies, shaping people's personality, beliefs and philosophy of life, worldview and people's orientation, familiarity with social values, practical patterns, hierarchy of roles and way of life, they play an important role (Rastegar, 2017). Its textbooks are unique to the textbooks that are used throughout the country (Mashaikh, 1375). This is despite the fact that due to the size of the country, the diversity and multiplicity of ethnicities and population types and the problems caused by it (such as the bilingualism of students), the rapid growth of science and technology, the rapid change in social norms and values, it is necessary that textbooks be written with sufficient accuracy and as much as possible, free of any defects and in accordance with the established goals and scientific principles; In this case, checking the content of textbooks can help to clarify the problem and provide the possible strengths and weaknesses of the content, according to the set goals and scientific principles, to administrators, planners, and authors of textbooks (Yarmohamedian, 2017). One of the appropriate methods for checking the content of textbooks is the content analysis method. Content analysis examines the actual content of a verbal or non-verbal message, the determining factors and effects of the message (Coy[1], 1981).
On the other hand, Levy[2] (1999; quoted by Mashaikh, 1375) believes that the term curriculum content refers not only to organized parts and pieces that form a scientific field in an orderly manner, but also to events and phenomena. which somehow, with different scientific fields
Fathi Vajargah (2004) believes that from a scientific point of view, in lesson planning, at least two types of content can be identified in each lesson:
1. Written content, which is the same as the textbooks studied.
2. Verbal content such as the teacher's explanations and his teaching in the classroom
The nature of the decisions that are made about the content of the curriculum has a special complexity and is influenced by various factors and parameters; For example, the theoretical (scientific) aspect, the social and cultural aspect, the political aspect and the individual aspect in choosing the content; One of the uses of textbook content analysis is to determine the appropriateness and consistency of the content with the goals of the curriculum.Textbook analysis, which can be considered a form of evaluation of the textbook, has two formal and rational dimensions:
Formal analysis of the textbook: considering that the textbook is a basic element in the curriculum, if it is attractive and colorful, has a suitable design, beautiful lines with appropriate intervals and good paper, the possibility of learning increases. To increase the attractiveness of textbooks, it is necessary to pay equal and balanced attention to factors such as races, minorities, religions, gender, occupations and social classes. In this dimension of the textbook analysis, the external factors of the content such as those mentioned are paid attention to and the analyst examines these items.
Rational analysis of the textbook: This dimension is very important in the analysis or evaluation of the textbook. In this context, we can mention the appropriateness of the content with the general development level of the students in the age group, the appropriateness of the content with the structure of knowledge and the level of development of the students, and the appropriateness of the content with the previous experiences or the interests and motivations of the students (Yarmohamedian, 2017); Therefore, the basic issue of this study is that while defining and explaining the concept of textbook content analysis, the characteristics and stages of content analysis, it describes the most important models, techniques and methods of content analysis (quoted by Jafari Herandi et al., 2017). Therefore, it is necessary to check the content of textbooks for various reasons such as matching with the lesson objectives, identifying the strengths and weaknesses of the textbooks. This review can be done in different ways, of which content analysis is the most common of these methods (Jaafari Herandi et al., 2017). Curriculum planning[3] has always been influenced by different approaches and perspectives. Each of these approaches forms the basis of the activities related to the curriculum and has in some way influenced the stages, elements and pillars of the curriculum, these practical approaches focus on the development and mental or rational powers of the human being. Based on these approaches, the most important function of schools and educational centers is to help learners to learn how to learn and also to create learning opportunities to strengthen and develop all kinds of mental skills and abilities, especially metacognitive skills. Metacognition is one of the special approaches known as thinking education. In other words, metacognition is a profile of trained intellect or trained thinking, which should be seriously considered in curriculum design. The skill of metacognition [4] according to different experts, has different components which are explained in detail in the second chapter. This research intends to analyze the content of social studies textbooks of the fourth and fifth year of elementary school based on the components of metacognition (Safari (2009) 1- metacognitive knowledge[5]; 2- methods[6]; 3- study strategies[7]) and to examine the extent of use of each of these components in the writing of the aforementioned book slow.
1-3. Importance and Necessity of Research
Textbook is one of the most important sources of learning in Iran's educational system. The textbook is the center of educational activities in all regions of the country and for all students with different abilities. Therefore, the textbook is very important in the educational system of Iran, and its effectiveness is equal to the desirability of the educational system, and its inefficiency and difficulty is equal to the inefficiency and weakness of the educational system. Therefore, the content of textbooks should be analyzed and revised from time to time. One of the most common methods is content analysis. Content analysis is a research method that is used to objectively, systematically and quantitatively describe the obvious content of communication messages, which is used to examine and explain words, concepts, words, themes, phrases and certain sentences within a text. Content analysis is considered to be a research method for reproducible and valid inference of data in texts. Content analysis, which is also called discourse analysis, is a method based on which the linguistic features of a spoken or written text can be recognized realistically, objectively and regularly, and conclusions can be made about non-linguistic issues such as the personal and social characteristics of the speaker or the author of the text and his opinions and tendencies. The meaning of text or content is all constructions of various signs through which communication is established (Zighmi et al., 2017).
Flavel[8], who is one of the founders of metacognition skill, first introduced the concept of metacognition in research texts in 1976.