An online project-based learning application to develop secondary school students' metacognitive awareness and 21st century skills

The aim of this research is to examine the effect of online project-based learning on students' 21st century skills and metacognitive awareness. Participatory action research model was used in this research, which was carried out using a mixed method approach. The "Comprehensive 21st Century Skills Scale" developed by the researcher and the "Metacognitive Awareness Scale for Children (MCQ-C) Form B" developed by Karakelle and Saraç (2007) were used to collect the quantitative data of the study. Qualitative data of the research were collected by using "Semi-structured Interview Form" and "Researcher Observation Form". While 334 students attending the 5th, 6th, 7th and 8th grades participated in the scale development process of the research, 53 students attending the 6th grade participated in the online project-based learning application. The semi-structured interview was conducted with 10 students selected from among the research participants. While the analysis of the pretest and posttest quantitative data of the online project-based learning application was made with the SPSS 22.0 package program, the analysis of the qualitative data was made with Microsoft Excel 2016 and QSR Nvivo 10 programs. In addition, the pretest and posttest data of the research were analyzed with the Paired-Samples T-Test. According to the quantitative findings of the research, online project-based learning is generally associated with students' metacognitive awareness, critical thinking and problem solving skills, social responsibility and adaptation skills, cooperation skills, media literacy skills, ICT literacy skills, creativity and innovation skills, as well as 21st century skills. It has been determined that it improves entrepreneurship and self-management skills. However, no significant difference was found in the development of communication skills and leadership skills. According to the qualitative findings of the research obtained within the scope of the semi-structured interview, it can be said that different categories and codes were formed under the theme of metacognitive awareness, while different categories and codes were formed under nine themes within the scope of 21st century skills. In addition, in the findings obtained in line with researcher observation, 11 different assessment areas for metacognitive awareness and 16 different assessment areas for 21st century skills emerged. It was concluded that the qualitative findings supported the quantitative findings within the scope of 21st century skills and metacognitive awareness, excluding leadership skills. Because, contrary to the quantitative findings, it can be said that the leadership skills of the students also improved according to the qualitative findings. Considering the findings of the research, suggestions for practice and future research were made.