PROSPECTIVE SCIENCE TEACHERS’ CONCEPTUALIZATIONS ABOUT PROJECT BASED LEARNING

Project-based learning (PBL) consisting projects that integrate science, technology, society, history, mathematics, politics and even arts serves a productive discussion opportunity for students, fosters a student-directed inquiry of real world problems, gives them the excitement of learning and seen to be an effective teaching strategy. Therefore, examination of PBL from the practitioners’ point of view, interpretation of the conceptualizations and experiences of them would yield valuable indicators for future PBL processes in classes both for instructors and students. This study focused on the prospective science teachers’ conceptualizations about project-based learning as practitioners in this research but also as instructors of future. A group of 75 prospective science teachers took place in research for a period of ten weeks and conduct projects in groups of four to five based on science-technology-society issues. Multiple data sources were used consisted a questionnaire with open ended questions, project portfolios and presentation notes. Data collected analyzed qualitatively and some assertions generated with the help of conceptual constructs derived. Assertions generated indicated that prospective science teachers developed some varying understandings based on their experiences about conducting projects in the context of PBL