The effect of community-based social studies learning management combined with project-based learning to promote disciplined behavior and responsibility for learning among primary school students in a small school

This study aims to 1) establish a community-focused learning framework for social studies that incorporates project-based learning; and 2) evaluate the outcomes of this instructional approach. The research utilizes a onegroup pretest-post-test experimental design, involving 67 students from six small schools in the Hat Yai District, administered by the Primary Educational Service Area of Songkhla, Area 2, during the first semester of the 2024 academic year. The research instruments comprised a social studies lesson plan incorporating community-based and project-based learning, a social studies achievement assessment, a behavioral evaluation of students' responsibility towards their studies, and a satisfaction survey gauging students’ perception of the teaching model. We conducted data analysis employing essential statistical methods including percentage, mean, and standard deviation. The research results indicate that: The community-based, project-based learning methodology for social studies comprises four instructional plans, each spanning 16 weeks and totaling 16 hours, executed in five phases: Phase 1 encompasses brainstorming and selecting social studies topics; Phase 2 entails executing the social studies project; Phase 3 emphasizes reflecting on the project process; Phase 4 involves presenting the social studies project to the community; and Phase 5 focuses on evaluating the project’s effectiveness. The application of this method revealed a substantial enhancement in students' disciplined behavior regarding their learning responsibilities following the intervention, achieving statistical significance at the .01 level. Furthermore, students' social studies achievement scores were markedly elevated following the learning period, also at the .01 significance level. The evaluation of student satisfaction with this instructional model indicated a generally elevated level of satisfaction (M = 4.61, SD = 0.26).