The Effect of Controversial Issues on the Development of Social Studies Teacher Candidates' Critical Thinking Levels

One way for the student to confront with the various dimensions of critical thinking in the lessons and to provide them quality thinking training is to give place to controversial topics in the lessons. In this context, in the research it is aimed to investigate the effect of giving lectures on controversial topics, through the critical thinking model, on social studies teacher candidates’ critical thinking levels. The study was conducted in accordance with the comparison group pretest – posttest quasi-experimental design. In the study, the groups were composed of social studies teacher candidates. The opinions of teacher candidates toward a problem were taken in writing and data were collected. The answers were scored through Holistic Critical Thinking Scoring Rubric. In the data analysis section, statistical analyzes were used. As a result of the research, it has been understood that the giving place to the controversial topics in the lesson with a critical thinking model has a significant and positive effect on the teacher candidates' critical thinking levels. In the research it is reached the conclusion that the teacher candidates, need critical thinking instruction