The effect of project based learning approach on electrostatic achievements and attitudes of second year?s pre-service physics teachers

The aim of this study was to determine the effect of project based learning approachon electrostatic achievements and attitudes of second year’s pre-service physics teachers. Inthe study, on achievement test was developed to evaluate the students’ achievements inelectrostatic, attitude scala was developed and applied in order to evaluate the students’attitude towards physics.The study was applied to the students of second year Pre-service Physics EducationCourse at Dicle University in 2006- 2007 academic year at spring term. Twelve of thestudents were selected as an experimental group and twelve of the students were selected as acontrol group from the groups of samples formed with the random method.Experimental method was used in this study. Equal pre-test and post-test with controlgroup design of experimental search method was used. In the study there were two equalnumbered groups; one of them was the experimental group with 20 students and the other wasthe control group with 20 students. So there were totally 40 students. But during the processeight students of the control group and two of the experimental group did not regularlyinvolve in the applications. So the study carried out with eighteen students of the experimentalgroup and twelve of the control group students. Electrostatic was taught to experimentalgroup for 4 weeks according to project based learning approach. In this period, electrostaticwas taught to control group according to the traditional learning method.In the study, quantitative study data analysis method was used. Achievement andattitude scale was carried out as pre test before experimental process and post test afterprocess. In the analysis, “t-test” was used with the aim of showing the differences between theaverages. Statistical processing was made by using the SPSS 12.0 program. It was evaluatedaccording to .05 significant levels whether the results were meaningful or not.At the end of the study, the following results were obtained: in terms of electrostaticlearning achievements and the attitudes toward physics, there wasn’t any meaningfuldifference between the students of experiment group taught with project based learningapproach the students of control group taught with the traditional learning method. Beforeexperimental processing, and after the experimental processing at the attitude of studentstowards pyhsics there was not a substantial difference in favor of experimental group. Therewas not any subtantial difference between the two groups in the terms of students’ attitudestowards Physics before and after the experiment.The sub_ problem about whether there was a substantial difference or not before and after theexperimental process between the achievement levels of students of control group and thestudents of experimental group the following results were found: according to obtainedfinding in pre-processing application there wasn’t substantial difference between theachievements of experiment group and control group; but after the process there was asubstantial difference statistically in favor of experiment group between the achievements ofexperiment group and control group.Also, based on the observations and interviews, the students in experimantal expressedthat the lessons were fun and they were involved in actively in the activities.