Özet:

We are living in a technology driven fast moving age in which students need 21st century skills to be successful in work and daily life. Project Based Learning (PBL) that requires students to make a project is recommended to achieve the aforementioned skills. One of the focuses of the research is teachers' and students' perceptions of the benefits and challenges of PBL and project. According to the research, these perceptions effect teachers and teacher candidates’ qualifications, experiences and artifacts. The aim of this study was to identify perceptions of pre-service social studies teachers who have not sufficient experiences in the projects. The survey method was used in the study. A total of 145 students comprised the participants. This study was conducted in an undergraduate social science teacher education program at Faculty of Education in Trabzon, Turkey during autumn semester of the 2014-2015 school year. The open ended questions were administered and mind maps were asked to the participants to define what they perceived as project. A qualitative analysis was conducted and results were presented in graphs and tables. This study concluded that teacher candidates perceive projects as for preparing teaching materials and an instruction technique to teach subject matter of social studies. Recommendations for practitioners and researchers are presented. 

Anahtar Kelimeler: