TEACHING METHODS AND EIGHTH GRADE PUPIL ACHIEVEMENT IN GEOGRAPHY IN ITEMS WITH GRAPHIC SUPPLEMENTS

U radu se analiziraju stavovi učitelja geografije o učestalosti primjene pojedinih nastavnih metoda u poučavanju geografije, s naglaskom na primjenu grafičkih metoda i metodu demonstracije, te postignuća učenika osmih razreda Republike Hrvatske na ispitu vanjskog vrednovanja u zadacima uz grafičke priloge. Komparirane su ispitne čestice koje su učenici rješavali uz grafičke priloge i ispitne čestice bez grafičkih priloga. Prosječna riješenost ispitnih čestica koje su učenici rješavali uz grafičke priloge je za oko 10 postotnih poena niža u odnosu na prosječnu riješenost ostalih ispitnih čestica na ispitu vanjskog vrednovanja provedenome među učenicima osmog razreda u šk. god. 2007./2008. na uzorku od 21.485 učenika. Cilj rada je osvijestiti važnost primjene grafičkih metoda i metode demonstracije u nastavi geografije te analizom pogrešaka kod ispitnih čestica koje su učenici rješavali uz grafičke priloge predložiti smjernice za poboljšanje rezultata učenja. Učitelji geografije za efikasnije poučavanje nastavnih sadržaja iz geografije, uz učenje pomoću računala, najveću važnost pridaju primjeni metode demonstracije.This paper analyses geography teacher assessment of the frequency of the use of teaching methods in teaching geography with special emphasis on the application of graphic methods, demonstration methods and eighth grade pupil achievements in the Republic of Croatia on the external evaluation exam in items with graphic supplements. The test questions that pupils answered with the help of accompanying graphic supplements and test questions without accompanying graphic supplements were compared. The average score of success in solving test questions with accompanying graphic supplements was about 10 percentage points lower than the average score of success in solving other test questions on the external evaluation exam conducted among eighth grade pupils in the 2007/2008 school year on a sample of 21,485 pupils. The objective of this paper is to raise awareness of the importance of applying graphic methods and demonstration methods in teaching geography and through an analysis of errors made by pupils on test questions accompanied by graphic supplements, in order to propose guidelines to improve learning results. Geography teachers attributed the greatest importance in improving the effectiveness of teaching geography content to computer-aided learning and demonstration methods