Online searching in project-based learning in Chemistry education and the evaluation of the results

Abstract

In Project-based learning, students perform learning process by preparing a project in a chosen subject. The basic steps in this process are; determining the target question, determining the main aims of the study, forming the teams, determining the properties and presentation type of the result report, forming the working agenda, determining the control points and evaluation criteria. According to the working agenda, team collect data, organize them and prepare a presentation report. In the study; the students attend the 5th class of Hacettepe University, Faculty of Education , Department of Chemistry Education and were requested to prepare related with a chosen subject in the science education curriculum as well as evaluate the knowledge and data that they collected online. Students prepared 12 projects in groups of 3. After the Project presentation completed, the advantages of online data collection was discussed. After this, in the evaluation stage, an “Online Searching Questionnaire in Project-Based Learning” was used. The questionnaire consists of questions such as: Did you use search engine tools when you were searching the Internet about Project-based learning? Did you use scientific databases when you searched on the internet?; Did you use the government websites? Did you use personal web-sites, when you ….?After the evaluations, it was observed that computer-assisted applications in the Project-based learning model made students fully prepare for high level projects. The project achievement points of the students were above 90%.