Teaching social studies with mind and intelligence games

A study of teacher candidates’ views and experience

Abstract

• The mind and intelligence games can be used as an effective instrument for teaching some skills included in the social studies curriculum such as historical empathy, thinking, problem solving and decision-making skills.
• Teacher candidates were both excited and concerned about using mind and intelligence games for social studies education.
• To increase the professional self-confidence of social studies teachers, in-service teacher training can be enriched with workshop activities on mind game training and practices.

Purpose: The study aims at analyzing teacher candidates’ experience and views about the use of mind and intelligence games in social studies courses.

Design/methodology/approach: The basic qualitative design was used in this paper. Data were obtained during the 2016-2017 academic year from 12 4th year college students studying social studies teacher education in a university located in Turkey. A two-week (16 hours) workshop program on 21 different mind and intelligence games of different genres was given to the teacher candidates. Dataset were analyzed regarding the usability of mind and intelligence games in social studies education.

Findings: The obtained results showed that although mind and intelligence games offer important contributions to teaching social studies, there may be some difficulties.

Practical implications: University administrators may organise in-service training programs for instructors on mind and intelligence games as implementing them in courses may increase learner satisfaction and contribute to a more positive classroom environment.