A qualitative examination of parents' views on the applicability of the project-based learning approach in science courses

Abstract

This study was conducted to investigate the role of the parents of students in the science and technology lessons of the project-based teaching approach. The research was carried out through a case study, one of the qualitative research methods. The data of the study were obtained from semi-structured interviews with 24 students' parents. As a result of the research, it was understood that the parents of the students saw the project as a study aimed at increasing the students' hand skills, thinking skills, and productivity to prepare something new. As a result, it was seen that after the project assignment was given by the teachers, the parents were involved in the process to help their children complete the projects. At the end of the process of doing the project assignments, it was concluded that the parents received informal training, both in one-on-one interviews with the parents who helped their children and in the observations made during the project exhibitions at the school. This situation was important in terms of the informal education of parents. It was also determined that the parents helped their children during the setup and presentation of the project and that they wanted to complete it when wrong or incomplete explanations were made. It was observed that as the contribution of the parents increased during the completion of the projects, the role of the students in the projects decreased and they did not take responsibility. It was concluded that the students thought of family aids as a tool to achieve higher academic success than the project assignments, and therefore the homework deviated from its purpose./p>

Keywords: Project-based learning (PBL), student-parent views, qualitative analysis, science education, secondary school.

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