Perception of vocational and technical high school students' skill levels within the scope of Industry 4.0: The case of Ankara province

The purpose of this research is to examine the perception of vocational and technical high school students' skill levels within the scope of Industry 4.0. As a result of the research, which was designed with the scanning model according to the quantitative method, the "Perception Scale for 21st Century Skills Level" was developed. In the research, the scale was applied to 834 students selected by simple random sampling, studying in the fields of Industrial Automation Technology, Machine Technology, Electrical-Electronic Technologies and Information Technologies in 7 Vocational and Technical Anatolian High Schools located in the city center of Ankara. After the validity and reliability analyzes of the scale were completed, the analysis of the research data was made with SPSS 27 and AMOS 26 package programs. The t-test and ANOVA test were applied in the comparisons made in the total and sub-dimensions of the scale. The Posthoc (LCD) test, which is suitable for multiple comparisons, was used in cases where there was a significant difference. According to the results obtained in the study, it was seen that the life and career skill levels of male students were higher than female students. It was concluded that as the grade level of the students increased, their perceptions of 21st century skill levels increased, and students who chose vocational and technical education by their own choice had higher perceptions of 21st century skills level. In addition, it was concluded that the high level of household income was effective in the high perception of students' 21st century skills level. In addition, the perceptions of 21st century skills level of students studying at Aselsan, Cezeri Yeşil Teknoloji and Şehit Mehmet Şengül Vocational and Technical Anatolian High Schools have higher scores than other vocational and technical high schools within the scope of the project. As a result, it was concluded that the perceptions of vocational and technical high school students about 21st century skills level had high scores in terms of total scale scores.