Asadollah Babaiefard: Associate Professor, Department of Social Sciences, Faculty of Humanities, Kashan University, Kashan, Iran.

Gholamabass Rahmani*: PhD student in Sociology, Department of Social Sciences, Faculty of Humanities, Kashan University. Kashan, Iran

 

Introduction: Teaching methods are effective in both students' academic progress and in creating motivation and satisfaction, developing their personality and growing their creativity. On the other hand, a teacher's mastery of educational methods and techniques is considered one of the criteria for teacher competence. The purpose of this research is to introduce and examine the most important methods of teaching social sciences.

Materials and methods: The research method is descriptive and library. The types of teaching methods are divided into two categories: traditional and modern. However, for teaching social sciences, the methods used are student-teacher, narration, question and answer, practice and repetition, conference, role-playing, problem solving, discussion, workshop method, brainstorming, scientific demonstration, inquiry-based teaching, scientific tour, team efficiency plan, collaborative method, innovation and indirect-consultation teaching method, etc.

Results and discussion: Human society, in its effort to achieve ideals such as peace, freedom, and social justice, and to face the multitude of challenges that the future holds hidden in its heart, considers education to be an inevitable capital. Given the advancement of technology and the continuous changes that occur, conditions for change must be created in every society. The initial condition for any change is knowledge and awareness, which must be followed by planning to achieve the desired goals. Education and teaching are among the most important and fundamental pillars of a society's education system. For many reasons, including the emphasis on the principles of the country's education system and the goals of academic courses, global attitudes, the increasing growth of research, and the speed of technology, the necessity of active teaching is essential. Religions and social reform leaders have also emphasized a kind of activation of the mind and preventing blind imitation in the principles and methods of life. Therefore, education and teaching based on active methods can be a step in the dissemination and promotion of science and the education of free and aware people who can play a significant role in the development and technology of society. It should be said that the task of teachers in the teaching process is not only to transfer scientific facts to students, but also to provide the desired learning situation and conditions and teach students how to think and how to learn. That is, the teacher's job is not only to transfer knowledge, but also to develop the ability to think logically and to cultivate a healthy personality. Therefore, successful teachers do not only provide specialized materials to their students; rather, students themselves learn cognitive and social materials and how to use them effectively. Therefore, in education and training, the role of human resources, especially teachers, is considered one of the most important factors in the growth and development of the quality and content of education. Teaching methods are different lights, each of which covers a specific radius. Of course, it must be acknowledged that each of the above lights has a special efficiency in relation to different situations of new teaching methods, in other words, each is fruitful in its own place (Ghorchian, 1998). This article introduces traditional and modern teaching methods, then the most important teaching methods for social science courses (student-teacher methods, narrative method, question and answer method, practice and repetition method, conference, role-playing (dramatic), problem solving, discussion (including group discussion, etc.), workshop method (explanatory and lecture), brainstorming or brainstorming, demonstration method (scientific demonstration), inquiry-based teaching, scientific tour method, team efficiency plan, dividing the subject into different parts (collaboration), innovation, and indirect-consultative teaching method) are introduced and explained. But what is important is that recent perspectives have emphasized a combination in this category of teaching methods. The positive impact of modern teaching methods on student learning is proven by numerous researches, a few examples of which are mentioned in this article. A knowledgeable teacher, while utilizing various methods, tries to recognize the will and authority of the student and consider him responsible for learning. This method is based on the use of active teaching methods that give students a sense of responsibility. However, there are obstacles and challenges on the way to the active teaching method that the relevant authorities must pay due attention to. Among them, we can mention such things as the content of the course, the qualifications and abilities of teachers, social attitudes and tendencies, educational facilities, and the local cultural conditions governing the situation of students.

The history of studies shows that teaching methods are effective in both the academic progress of students and in creating motivation and satisfaction, developing their personality and growing their creativity. Teachers are the frontline soldiers of the education front and it is necessary for them to be familiar with the most modern scientific weapons of the day, that is, various new and active teaching methods, and to know which method to use in which educational situation. Therefore, a teacher's mastery of teaching methods and techniques is considered one of the criteria for teacher competence. In fact, many experts prefer this criterion to other criteria for teacher competence. Followers of this criterion consider a teacher to be like a person with a technique, and the more he or she masters the techniques of his or her work, the more successful he or she will be in his or her work. Therefore, teachers' knowledge and awareness of learning theories and teaching models is of particular importance, because educational places are places for guidance, supervision, and learning, and the teacher, as a guide, observer, and organizer, must have sufficient knowledge and skills in educational design and evaluation methods, in addition to the necessary knowledge in the subject matter.

Conclusion: The overall conclusion of the research showed that teaching methods and techniques are essential elements in the teaching and learning process. These methods determine the quality of transferring concepts to learners and the success in achieving educational goals.

Keywords: Teacher, education, teaching methods, exploration, problem solving.