Investigation of views of high school students on the constructivist learning environment (Ümrani̇ye district sample)

This research is intended to set forth the views of the students studying in vocational and technical education in secondary schools for the constructivist learning environment. The research was applied to 690 students, including 422 females and 268 males studying secondary schools in Umraniye district of Istanbul province. The research is based on Quantitative methods and Constructivist Learning Environment Scale was used in order to reveal students' views on the constructivist learning environment. The Scale was prepared in 5-point Likert-type. The scale was adapted to Turkish by Cirik (2005). Also, the research tries to determine the personal information such as the students' gender, class, school type, section as well as whether lessons were covered cooperatively, whether tablet PC was used in the lessons, whether discussion environment occurred in the lessons, whether subjects learned were used in real-life and whether guidance and counseling services were benefited at adequate level by using "Student Personal Information Survey". As a result of research, In terms of all subscales scores of Constructivist Learning Environment Scale, it has been found a meaningful relationship in favor of 11th grade according to class variable, in favor of female students according to gender variable; in terms of subscale scores of sense-making and connection with the real-life events, it has been found a meaningful relationship in favor of students attending Science High School according to school types variable; in terms of subscale scores of sharing ideas with others, it has been found a meaningful relationship in favor of quantitative section according to preferred section variable. Furthermore, the research has found that smart tablet applications to be used in the learning environment is not sufficient in accordance with the constructivist approach, that students cannot benefit from guidance and counseling services sufficiently, and that the lessons are not covered in accordance with the constructivist approach due to preparation of university entrance examination. The research concludes that giving information to teachers in in-service training, seminars, symposia, congresses and conferences according to the constructivist theories of learning, elimination of deficiencies such as schools, equipment, computers, the internet and the implementation of Fatih Project at the earliest will contribute to the education. Key words: Constructivist approach , Constructivist Learning Environment Survey , Survey