Effect of the problem based learning on the attitudes, academic achievement and retention level of the 5th year ground school pupils in the mathematics course

This study aims at elaborating the effect of the problem based learning method on the attitudes, academic achievement and retention level of the 5th year ground school pupils in the mathematics course.This study is based on the semi experimental design pattern involving preliminary test-final test control groups. This preliminary test-final test control group design has been defined as a design where the subjects are neutrally assigned to the test and control groups are measured before and after the experimental application. The practical study was carried out on total 60 pupils attending the classrooms 5/B and 5/C of a public ground school in the Province of Ankara attached to the Rauf Orbay.In order to collect the required data for this study, a mathematics achievement test was used to measure the academic achievement and retention levels of the pupils, and a number of curricula, scenarios, worksheets and miscellaneous teaching materials were developed to process the fifth year mathematics course within the framework of the problem based learning method, while the attitude scale was developed by another researcher as a different data collection tool to measure the attitude pupils towards the mathematics course.In the process of implementation, the experimental group works involving the problem based learning method were carried out by the researcher, as planned by teachers teaching in the control group activities conducted by the classroom teacher. The implementation by the researcher was completed in a period of time for six weeks. The achievement and attitude preliminary tests-final tests were applied before and at the end of the survey. Three weeks later than the end of implementation, a retention test was carried out.The SPSS software was used for the statistical analysis of all the survey data. Average points and standard deviations were calculated for the test and control groups. ?t? test was used for intragoup and intergroup comparisons, for which a confidence level of 0.05 was adopted as the level of significance.The findings obtained upon analysis of the collected survey data revealed no significant difference between the test group of problem based learning method and the control group students of the teaching by the teacher to plan in terms of their attitude towards the lesson. For the academic achievement and retention levels of the test and control groups, there is a significant difference in favor of the test group. In this context, it is concluded that the problem based learning method has an affirmative effect on the pupils for their attitude and achievement towards and in the mathematics course.