Abstract:

The purpose of this study was to apply project-based teaching as a pedagogical approach for primary school students to acquire twenty-first century skills in the inquiry process and to report the empirical results obtained. The research was designed in accordance with mixed methods research, and quantitative and qualitative data collection techniques were used together. The study, in which 36 students attending the third grade of primary school participated, was conducted in the 2018-2019 academic year. Before and after the application, the Creativity Scale (How creative are you?) and the Metacognitive Awareness Inventory for Children (MAI-C) B Form were applied to the study group. After the application, Individual Self-Evaluation Rubric and Group Evaluation Rubric were also applied and individual interviews were held with the students. Instructional design has been prepared with an interdisciplinary approach for Life Sciences, Mathematics and Turkish courses, taking into account the achievements of these courses. The application lasted for four weeks, 5 hours a week. According to the analysis made on the data, there was no change in the creative thinking skills of the students. Nevertheless, there was a significant increase in their Metacognitive Awareness levels. Although the students emphasized more cognitive skills such as thinking, designing, researching, creative thinking, imagination, designing and attention at the end of the application, they stated that they improved in their social skills such as cooperation, cooperation, friendship, self-confidence and working in a group. Based on the individual and group evaluation forms, it is understood that the majority of the students demonstrate the expected performance from them.

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