American Journal of Research in Humanities and Social Sciences ISSN (E): 2832-8019 Volume 27, | August - 2024 P a g e | 48 www.americanjournal.org ANALYSIS OF THE CONTENT OF THE QUESTIONS OF THE SOCIOLOGICAL BOOK FOR THE THIRD INTERMEDIATE GRADE IN THE LIGHT OF HIGH-RANKING THINKING SKILLS Researcher / Assistant Lecturer. Ali Kadhim Jassam Al-Karawi General Directorate of Education in Najaf Governorate Alikadhim198777@gmail.com Mobile / 07810982728 Researcher / Assistant Lecturer. Enas Ali Jawi College of Basic Education / Wasit University / Department of History Inas.naser@alkucollge.edu.iq Mobile / 07725646401 Researcher / Assistant Lecturer. Dumooa Fikhri Hassan College of Basic Education / Wasit University/ Educational curricula. dumoafikhrial@gmail.com Mobile / 07814273355 A B S T R A C T K E Y W O R D S The current research aims to (analyze the content of the questions of the sociological book for the third intermediate grade in the light of high- ranking thinking skills), to achieve this goal, the researcher prepared a list of high-ranking thinking skills, according to Al-Otoum's classification of them and presented them to experts specialized in curricula and methods of teaching sociology, to extract virtual honesty, after that, the researcher proceeded to analyze the paragraphs of the book's questions in the light of the skills contained in the list of final skills, then the researcher made sure of the stability of the analysis between his analysis and the analysis of an external analyst, the researcher reached the repetitions and percentages achieved by each of the high-ranking thinking skills, as contained in the questions of the systematic sociological textbook, based on these results, the researcher reached a set of conclusions, proposals and recommendations. Content Analysis, Questions, Sociological Textbook, Intermediate Third, High-Ranking Thinking Skills. Introduction (Research Definition) First: Research Problem: The world today has become like a small village, the spread of means of communication and satellite channels that invaded every house in our cities, whether in the city, countryside or village, and it is full of everything new and contradictory in people's lives, so we find that life is not easy to live without American Journal of Research in Humanities and Social Sciences Volume 27 August - 2024 P a g e | 49 www.americanjournal.org thinking, and that who does not use thinking correctly we will find him paying the bills for his bad thinking in aspects of life, we also note that there are many issues such as wars, famines, the spread of drugs, the violation of human rights, the conflict of religions, ethnic discrimination, religious intolerance, different cultures, child labor and the gap between generations with all its contradictions, all this was one of the reasons and reasons that encourage us to think about it, understand it and study it to find appropriate solutions to it (Abdelaziz, 2009: 34). And that educational institutions, especially higher education institutions, are in constant search for positive change in various aspects of life to advance the educational process, this does not happen if there is no clear vision to review the recruitment of courses in order to go hand in hand with the educational process, therefore, it is necessary to think increasingly about developing the work of institutions such as teaching using various modern teaching methods to enhance learners' learning, and their learning outcomes to ensure the consolidation of the knowledge and skills sought by society in its children who are able to manage the future and face challenges with continuous thinking to advance different professions (Al-Mawla, 2021: 7). Here it must be noted that the educational and educational process is a purposeful organized process, the learner and his cognitive, emotional and skill formation set a goal for it, according to the requirements of the modern era and the forward-looking outlook, thus, it is a flexible process that is constantly evolving, with its own tools through which it works to achieve these goals, as the curriculum is one of the most important and prominent of these tools (Arnoussi and Saad, 2015: 63). The curriculum is also one of the most important systems that make up the educational system as a system, and the mirror that reflects the philosophy of the educational system in translating the philosophy of society and its needs and aspirations to raise its children the education it aims at, as the reflector of that philosophy to which it belongs, the guarantor formulates his goals in the light of which he aspires to educate his members (Al-Hashemi and Attia, 2014: 15). The curriculum sets the appropriate goals prepared in advance to prepare the good citizen in an integrated preparation in all aspects, mental, physical, psychological, moral and emotional, it is necessary to pay attention to the educational process, because it is the means of society in building its members, and the means of education in this is the educational curricula (Raheef, 2021: 360). Perhaps one of the most important axes put forward by educators to form curricula that take the future into consideration, care and attention, is the axis of curricula and their relationship to the development of thinking, by thinking skills, we mean a social cognitive process that should focus on how to learn, it means that the thinking embedded in the school curriculum is a dynamic process that invites learners to interact and participate (Al-Dulaimi and Abdul Rahman, 2008: 87). The researcher, by virtue of his work as a teacher who teaches sociology to high school students, sees a clear weakness in the high-ranking thinking skills of students, the content of the curriculum focuses on the skills of memorization, comprehension and application at best, and went to the method of analyzing the content of the questions of the sociological book for the third intermediate grade in the light of high-ranking thinking skills in an accurate scientific manner, because the content analysis process provides a description of the trends apparent in the material of the book (Bahri, 2012: 195). Second: Research Importance: The importance of the textbook lies through the prominent great role it provides to the learner in educational life, the book is not just an educational tool that helps in the educational process, it is the American Journal of Research in Humanities and Social Sciences Volume 27 August - 2024 P a g e | 50 www.americanjournal.org main pillar in the educational learning process, it provides the general framework of the study material and work to provide, guide and guide the learner to what he studies, therefore, it is one of the main pillars on which the curriculum is based, because it is one of the tools through which we can make students able to reach predetermined curriculum goals (Hamadneh and Khaled, 2012: 217-218). The curricula in recent decades have received great attention from educators around the world and around the world, the textbook has received the forefront of this attention, as it is one of the important foundations on which learners master the educational products necessary to meet the challenges of comprehensive development in light of the changes that included everything in our lives and societies, therefore, many Arab and international conferences were held to develop the textbook, with regard to its content, activities and teaching methods, and the preparation of the efficient teacher, to play his multiple roles in the light of contemporary developments, in order to suit the learner of the twenty-first century (Al-Hashemi and Attia, 2009: 16-17) And that the process of content analysis is necessary from the evaluation supplies of the curricula and to know their components, weaknesses and strengths, through the analysis process, we learn about the components of the educational material that we want to teach, and the facts, concepts, principles, theories, generalizations, trends, values and skills contained therein, this means that curriculum designers, implementers and developers are unable to dispense with the analysis of the content of textbooks, as the means of the curriculum that expresses its content (Al-Hashemi and Attia, 2014: 176). Moreover, one of the most important objectives of the content analysis process is to identify the mental skills developed by the content of the textbook, or the thinking skills developed by this content in students (Taima, 2004: 85). That is why thinking is a necessity of life and the requirements of meaningful education, which plays an important role in the process of developing thought processes and skills, which allows individuals to develop their competence, it is necessary in academic and life success and self-realization in the field of work, sound thinking helps the student to succeed and feel happy, superior and satisfied, it also enables the individual to create good relationships in the school environment with his comrades, teachers and parents (Abdul Aziz, 2009: 39). High-ranking thinking is one of the most prominent educational dimensions, which educators have begun to pay attention to in recent years, as one of the important keys to achieving the educational goals of the learning and teaching processes, and to ensure effective cognitive development that allows the individual to use his maximum mental energies to achieve success and proper adaptation in the field of learning or public life, because high-ranking thinking is a thinking style that requires a special mental effort and patience with doubt and ambiguity, independence in the practice of mental simulation of what has been discovered, also refers to responding to a challenge, and poses a challenge to other challenges ( Al-Otoum et al., 2009: 207-208 ). Given that high-ranking thinking skills are of great importance to the learner, the researcher analyzed the content of the questions of the sociological book for the third intermediate grade in the light of high-ranking thinking skills, to investigate those skills to reach scientifically their exact proportions, and the extent to which the authors of the curricula take into account these skills when composing, all this is beneficial to the learner, being the main target in the educational process. Third: Research Objective: The current research aims to (analyze the content of the questions of the sociological book for the third intermediate grade in the light of high-ranking thinking skills). American Journal of Research in Humanities and Social Sciences Volume 27 August - 2024 P a g e | 51 www.americanjournal.org Fourth: Research Limits: This research is limited to the following: Social Studies Book for the Third Intermediate Grade, First Edition 2020. Fifth: Terms Definition: First: Content Analysis: 1- Language: Analysis: "Whoever solves the node solves it: He opened it and overruled it, and it was dissolved, and the solution: dissolving the knot" (Ibn Mandhur, D.T., article H.L.: 974). Content: Whoever contains a thing that contains it alive and a container and contains it collected and achieved (Ibn Mandhur, D.T., article H and A: 1065). 2- Conventionally: Content analysis: defined by:  (Al-Jaafara): It is "the fragmentation of content and the division of the knowledge, facts, concepts, principles, laws, values, skills and attitudes into its elements" (Al-Jaafara, 2011: 129).  (Al-Khawaldeh and Yahya): that "the organized process that is represented in the reorganization of the human communication material targeted by analysis in special systems, are consistent with the key symbols that the analyst sets as the basis for his work, and sees them as appropriate to achieve the objectives of his work or the user's goals for the results of the analysis" (Al-Khawaldeh and Yahya, 2014: 137). Second: The Book of Sociology: its definition:  (Kalzah) as: "parts of the social sciences selected, simplified and prepared for use in teaching in schools and other institutes of general education for educational or educational purposes" (Kalzah, 2012: 25).  Procedurally: (( It is that scientific material to be taught in the sociological book for the third intermediate grade, which was developed by curriculum planners in the Ministry of Education in accordance with the agreed scientific foundations. Third: The Sntermediate Grade: Idiomatically: (( It is that stage that mediates two stages of study, namely primary and secondary education, the duration of study is three years (first, second and third grade), it includes students aged (12 years) to (15 years) (Ministry of Education, 1981: 93). Fourth: High-Ranking Thinking Skills: Defined By:  (Al-Otoum et al.) as: that set of skills that include observation, classification, organization of information and open-ended problem solving, data analysis, the ability to critically question and the ability to formulate predictions also include the latter skills of Bloom's taxonomy (Al-Otoum et al., 2009: 229). Chapter Two Previous Studies There are no studies according to the researcher's knowledge that dealt with the analysis of the content of social books in the light of high-order thinking skills, therefore, it was limited to studies to benefit from them in the methodology, sample, sources, statistical means, and according to the chronology: 1- Al-Adly Study (2016): This study aimed to analyze the content of literature books and texts for the preparatory stage in Iraq in the light of basic thinking skills, where this study was conducted in Iraq and the research sample consisted of (369) pages after the researcher excluded the introductions and American Journal of Research in Humanities and Social Sciences Volume 27 August - 2024 P a g e | 52 www.americanjournal.org margins and proved the contents, to achieve the objectives of the study, the researcher prepared a tool for analysis by including basic thinking skills, and the results showed the following: 1- The book of literature and texts for the sixth grade of literature surpassed the books of literature and texts for the fourth literary and fifth literary grades, it received the highest repetition (158), and a percentage (45.40%) for basic thinking skills. 2- While the writers of literature and texts for the fourth grade of literature got the least repetitions of basic thinking skills, it was (80) repetitions, and (22.98%). 3- The books of literature and texts in the preparatory stage when built and authored did not take into account the issue of basic thinking skills sufficiently, in particular, the skills of forecasting and hypothesis. 2- Rahif Study (2021): This study aimed to analyze the content of the activities and exercises of the Arabic language book for the third intermediate grade in the light of high-ranking thinking skills, where this study was conducted in Iraq and the research sample consisted of (347) activities and exercises, after the researcher excluded from them introductions, footnotes, texts, presentation texts and rules, it was limited to pages that included activities and exercises directed to students, to achieve the objectives of the study, the researcher prepared a tool for analysis by including high- ranking thinking skills, and the results showed the following: 1- The Arabic language book for the third intermediate grade got repetitions of high-ranking thinking skills. 2- The skill of application, data analysis and modeling obtained the highest iterations of high-ranking thinking skills in the activities and exercises of the Arabic language book for the third intermediate grade. 3- While the skill of observation, open-ended question solving, evaluation, critical questioning and description of high-ranking thinking skills got fewer frequencies than the skill of application, data analysis and modeling available in the activities and exercises of the Arabic language book for the third intermediate grade. 4- As for the skill of organization, it is the only skill of high-ranking thinking skills that did not get repetitions in the activities and exercises of the Arabic language book for the third intermediate grade. Benefit from previous studies: We can benefit from previous studies as follows: 1- Previous studies used the descriptive approach in the study, and the current study used the descriptive approach. 2- Previous studies used the method of content analysis as a method in analyzing the material to be researched, as well as the current study. 3- Previous studies differed in their objectives, as the study (Al-Adly 2016) aimed to analyze the content of literature books and texts for the preparatory stage in Iraq in the light of basic thinking skills, as for the study (Rahif 2021), it aimed to analyze the content of the activities and exercises of the Arabic language book for the third intermediate grade in the light of high-ranking thinking skills, the current research aims to analyze the content of the questions of the sociological book for the third intermediate grade in the light of high-ranking thinking skills. 4- The study (Al-Adly 2016), the study (Rahif 2021) and the current research used the Holsty equation to extract stability in the analysis. American Journal of Research in Humanities and Social Sciences Volume 27 August - 2024 P a g e | 53 www.americanjournal.org 5- Previous studies gave different results, as for the current research, its results will be clear in the fourth chapter. Chapter Three Research Methodology and Procedures This chapter includes research methodology and procedures, it includes an integrated detail of each of the research community, its sample, research methodology and tools, and ensuring their truthfulness and stability of the analysis in the light of them, it also includes the procedures followed in it and statistical processing.  Research Methodology: In order to achieve the goal of the research, the researcher adopted the descriptive approach following the method of content analysis in dealing with the questions of the sociological book for the third intermediate grade in the light of high-order thinking skills, therefore, the research according to the descriptive approach, is an investigation, focused on a phenomenon of phenomena as it exists in reality, with the intention of diagnosing them and revealing their aspects, and identifying the relationships between their elements or between them and other phenomena (Daoud, 2006: 9), content analysis is an accurate and comprehensive scientific study that relies on observation and measurement in order to know the basic elements that make up the scientific material that is being analyzed (Al-Manizil and Adnan, 2010: 296). Research Community and Sample: The research community consists of the sociological book for the third intermediate grade in Iraq, first edition (1442 AH / 2021 AD), Authored by: Dr. Loay Adnan Hassoun, Dr. Esraa Tawfiq Talib, Dr. Majid Saddam Salem, Dr. Musa Mohammed Al Tuwairesh, Dr. Ebtisam Saud Oraibi, the book consists of one part containing three units with six chapters, the first unit is two chapters of geography, as well as the second unit is two chapters of history, the third unit also two chapters of national education, while the research sample consisted of (74) questions, after the researcher excluded the introductions, enrichment texts and regulations, as the researcher limited them to the pages that included questions addressed to students.  Research Tool: To achieve the goal of the researcher, it is necessary to have a tool for him, according to which the content is analyzed, what is meant by research tools are the tools used by the researcher to collect information related to the objectives of his research, which he uses mainly to answer research questions (Attia, 2009: 207), therefore, the researcher prepared a list of high-ranking thinking skills as identified by (Al-Afoun et al., 2014: 229).  Tool Validity: Validity is that the test actually measures what it was designed to measure, and it is the most important characteristic of any test, so any test must be honest, and the term validity often denotes quality (Kaufaha, 2003: 94), therefore, the researcher presented the questionnaire to a number of specialists in American Journal of Research in Humanities and Social Sciences Volume 27 August - 2024 P a g e | 54 www.americanjournal.org the field of teaching methods and educational psychology as in Appendix (1), for the purpose of ensuring its apparent validity. Analysis steps: The researcher followed the following steps when analyzing the questions of the sociological book: 1- Read the questions of each chapter of the book separately. 2- Identify the paragraphs analyzed. 3- Give one repetition for each question that achieves a high-ranking thinking skill. 4- Unpacking the results of the analysis into the analysis form. The researcher relied in the analysis on the unity of the idea, because it is the most appropriate and best for the title of his research, in addition, he used the repetition unit for the census, and dumped the results of the analysis in the analysis form, count the number of repetitions for each high-order thinking skill.  Analysis Stability: To verify the stability of the analysis, the researcher used the method of stability between analysts, as the researcher presented a chapter of the book of sociology for the third intermediate grade of Dr. Haider Hatem Al-Ajrash, PhD in Methods of Teaching History, to analyze the questions of that chapter, then the compatibility between the two analyzes was calculated using (Holsti's equation), to measure the stability coefficient, and the stability coefficient reached (90%), which is an acceptable ratio, that the analysis is consistent.  Statistical Processing: The researcher used the statistical package (SPSS) to complete his research. Chapter Four View and interpret results This chapter includes a presentation of the researcher's findings, after analyzing the content of the questions of the sociological book for the third intermediate grade in the light of high-ranking thinking skills, interpret the repetitions and percentages obtained by each of the high-ranking thinking skills, as shown in Table (1). Table 1 High-ranking thinking skills included in the social textbook for the third intermediate grade S. Book Total Percentage 1 Observation 15 5،8 2 Description 6 2،3 3 Marshalling 0 0 4 Critical questioning 7 2،7 5 Solve open-ended questions 11 4،2 6 Data analysis and modeling 56 21 ،7 7 Formulation of forecasts 5 1،9 8 Installation 4 1،5 9 Application 146 56 ،8 10 Evaluation 8 3،1 Total 258 100% American Journal of Research in Humanities and Social Sciences Volume 27 August - 2024 P a g e | 55 www.americanjournal.org It is clear from Table (1) that the application skill got the highest percentage is (56.8), followed by the skill of data analysis and modeling by (21.7), after that, came the observation skill by (5.8), then the skill of solving open-ended questions by (4.2), the evaluation skill by (3.1), the skill of critical questioning by (2.7), the skill of description by (2.3), the skill of formulating predictions by (1.9), the skill of installation by (1.5), and finally the skill of organization by (0%), as the content of the book included multiple questions, but most of these questions were aimed at the skill of application, and we find this in the concept questions, as well as the skill of analysis that got a good ratio, because we find it in the questions of facts, then came the following skills (observation, solving open-ended questions, evaluation, critical questioning, description, formulation of predictions, synthesis), in weak proportions, we rarely find it in the questions, and the skill of organization did not get any repetition, as the questions of the book did not include this skill. Chapter Five Conclusions, Recommendations and Proposals  Conclusions: Through the results of the researcher, it is clear that the authors of the book focus on the skill of application and analysis, and their lack of interest in high-order thinking skills.  Recommendations: Through his findings, the researcher recommends the following: 1- Directing the authors of the sociological book for the third intermediate grade to include high-ranking thinking skills that obtained weak percentages in the questions of the book. 2- The General Directorate of Curricula in the Iraqi Ministry of Education should take the recommendations and results of this research and other research analysis and evaluation of the content to develop the content of these books. 3- Training teachers and teachers on modern teaching methods, so that they can teach the high-ranking thinking skills included in the book.  Proposals: The researcher suggests the following: 1- Conducting a similar study on social books for the first and second intermediate grades. 2- Measuring the level of high-ranking thinking skills among students of the third intermediate grade. 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American Journal of Research in Humanities and Social Sciences Volume 27 August - 2024 P a g e | 57 www.americanjournal.org Appendix No. (1) The names of the arbitrators are arranged according to the scientific title and alphabets S. Name Degree Specialization 1 Jinan Muhammad Abdul Khafaji Assistant Professor Dr. Methods of Teaching Social Sciences 2 Jinan Marza Hamza Al-Rubaie Assistant Professor Dr. General Curricula and Teaching Methods 3 Haidar Hatem Faleh Al-Ajrash Professor Doctor Methods of Teaching History 4 Raed Ramthan Hussain Altamimi Lecturer Doctor General Curricula and Teaching Methods 5 Saja Abd Masrhad Assistant Professor Dr. General Curricula and Teaching Methods 6 Saad Tohme Balil Alkhafaji Professor Methods of Teaching Geography 7 Aref Hatem Hadi Aljubouri Professor Doctor General Teaching Methods 8 Abdul Salam Jawdat Professor Doctor Educational Measurement and Evaluation 9 Emad Hussein Obaid Al-Morshedi Professor Doctor Educational Psychology 10 Mashreq Muhammad Majwal Professor Doctor General Curricula and Teaching Methods 11 Muhammad Hamid Almasoudi Professor Doctor General Teaching Methods