The effect of project based learning method supported by prediction- observation- explanation on different variations in environmental education and students? views concerning this method

The purpose of this study is to investigate effect of project based learning method which is supported by prediction- observation- explanation (PBL supported by POE) on students? achievement, awareness, attitude, behaviour and permanence of knowledge towards environmental problems. The other aim of this study is to reveal experimental group students? views towards learning method, learning process and learning activities which are used in process.The pilot and main application phases of the research were carried out with different participants. The pilot part of this study was conducted with the teacher candidates who were in the 3rd class in Science Education Department of Gazi Education Faculty at 2009-2010 spring semester. The main application of this research was performed with the teacher candidates were in the 3rd class in Science Education Department of Gazi Education Faculty at 2010-2011 spring semester. One of the classes was selected as experimental group (N= 40) and the other one was selected as control group (N= 53) by neutral assignment for the main application. Learning was maintained with PBL supported by POE in the experimental group, on the other hand traditional learning methods which were supported by multi-media were used in the control group for 7 weeks. In this research, the research model called mixed method, in which both quantitative and qualitative research methods are used together had been applied. In order to collect the quantitative data, pre test?post test control group experimental design was used. Interview technique was used to gather qualitative data. During the phase of obtaining quantitative data of the application, all the teacher candidates who involved in application process (N= 93), were included in the study. As for the process of gathering qualitative data, 12 teacher candidates were selected from the experimental group and semi-structured interviews were conducted with these teachers.Environmental problems achievement test, awareness scale towards environmental problems, attitude scale towards environmental problems, behaviour scale towards environmental problems, permanence test and semi-structured interview questions, which were developed by the researcher, were used as data collection tool. Quantitative data was analyzed by using the Microsoft Excel 2007 spreadsheet program and SPSS 15 statistical analysis program. The descriptive statistic techniques, independent samples t-test, Two-Factor ANOVA test for the mixed measurements, and Bonferroni Test were benefitted in the analysis of quantitative data and significance level were admitted as .05. For qualitative analysis of data content analysis method was selected and the data were analyzed with HyperRESEARCHTM 2.6.1. qualitative analysis program.The quantitative results obtained from this study showed that there is no significant difference between pre-test mean scores of experimental and control groups regarding the achievement, awareness, attitude and behaviour. At the end of the study, post-test scores of all tests and scales showed significant difference in favour of the experimental group. The results of the analysis of qualitative data showed that teacher candidates have the same ideas on several points concerning the teaching process of the application and teaching method used in this course. Results showed that the method is particularly effective on environmental education and the use of a combination of these two methods also provides some advantages for learning process. Teacher candidates? responses to questions both explained the reason of the quantitative results and expressed the detailed opinion about the teaching process and method. As a result, it was observed that the teaching method serves the purpose of the study and it is also effective in offering targeted attainments related to the environmental problems to the learners.Key Words: Teacher Candidates, Environmental Problems, Prediction-Observation-Explanation Method, Project Based Learning Method, Achievement, Awareness, Attitude, Behaviour, Permanence.