The effects of the using of problem based learning method in science and technology course on students? the levels of constructing concepts, academic achievements and enquiry learning skill perceptions

In recent years, innovations have been made on a large scale in education systems in our country and the curriculums have been rearranged in the basis of constructivist approach providing the active participation of students to the learning process. Constructivism is an approach which advocates that students are able to learn meaningful and retention by connecting between existing knowledge and new information which they learn in the result of certain experience. Since the new science and technology curriculum has been arranged in the basis of constructivist approach, the methods and techniques which are able to use in the basis of this approach have become a current issue. Particularly, the methods and techniques providing the active participation of students to the learning process, advocating that students are able to learn better by enquiring and criticizing, enabling students to connect between daily life and the subjects which they learn have become important. Problem based learning applied more in faculties such as medicine, law, engineering in our country is also one of the methods which are able to apply in the basis of constructivist approach in science and technology teaching. Problem based learning is a method which enables students to solve an event in daily life by using their skills such as creative thinking, enquiry learning and critical thinking in collaboration environments. This study aims at searching the effects of the using of problem based learning method in science and technology teaching on students? the levels of constructing concepts, academic achievements and enquiry learning skills perceptions. The seventh levels of students who receive education in an elementary school in Buca in İzmir constitute the working group of the investigation. In the study, two classes have been taken as experiment (n=21) and control (n=20) group and have been used pre test-post test quasi-experimental design. In experimental applying process going on four weeks, lessons in experiment group have been carried out by using problem based learning method and lessons in control group have been carried out by using only science and technology curriculum. In the study, ?Open-ended Questions about determining the levels of constructing concepts of the students?, ?The Academic Achievement Test about The Unit of The Systems in our Body? and ?Enquiry Learning Skills Perceptions Scale? have been used as data collecting tools. Before experimental applying and then, the data collecting tools have been applied students which included in experiment and control group. The analyses of the data obtained have been carried out by using SPSS programme. In the result of analyses, it has been determined that there is a meaningful difference in favor of the experiment group with respect to students? the levels of constructing concepts, academic achievements and enquiry learning skills perceptions. In addition, in the end of the experimental applying, interviews with students which include in experiment group have been carried out by using semi-structured interview question in order to determine the opinions of the students about problem based learning method. In the result of the analyses of data obtained from the interviews, it can be said that students have positive opinions about problem based learning method. It is thought that this investigation carried out will shed light on new investigations to be made and will help determining the effects of the method in question on elementary students.