Arab Educational Information Network

This study aimed to identify the impact of using the constructivist-learning model in teaching the course of Social and National Studies on the development of achievement and habits of mind among first-grade intermediate students. To achieve the goal of the study, the researcher prepared a teacher’s guide to teach a unit in the Social and National Studies course according to the constructivist-learning model, in order to identify its impact on the development of achievement and habits of mind among first-grade students in the middle stage. The researcher used the quasi-experimental method. The study sample, which was divided into two equal groups; experimental group and control group, consisted of (60) students from the first-grade students in Riyadh city chosen by simple cluster randomization. The experimental group which studied according to the constructivist-learning model consisted of (30) students and the control group that studied according to the usual method consisted of (30) students. The researcher also prepared a test of achievement and a measure of the habits of mind and verified their validity and stability. The results showed that there were statistically significant differences between the two groups of the study for the benefit of the experimental group in the post-application. The study recommends that the Teaching Methods course in the teacher preparation programs should include the constructivist-learning model and its educational applications, in addition to paying attention to developing the students' habits of mind and training educational supervisors and teachers on how to implement the constructivist-learning model in the teaching of Social and National Studies, benefiting from the suggested teacher’s guide. (Published abstract)