Ortaokul Seviyesi TÜBİTAK Araştırma Projeleri Yarışmasına Katılan Danışman Öğretmenlerin Proje Deneyimleri

Abstract

One of the aims of science curriculum is to help students to find solution on problems by using scientific research methods. Within this scope, project competitions started to be organized after the protocol signed between "The Ministry of Education" and "The Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TUBITAK)" in 2004. This competition, which has been held for 10 years under the auspices of the Ministry of Education and with name of "This is My Work Project Competition", changed its name to "Research Projects Competition Among Middle School Students" after 2017 and continues to be held annually under the auspices of TUBITAK. Thus, the aim of this research is to reveal the project experiences of the consultant teachers who participated in at least regional exhibition in "Projects Competition Among Middle School Students" of TÜBITAK. The research was carried out with five consultant teachers who participated in at least a regional exhibition between 2017-2019 from Kahramanmaras. Phenomenology research design was used in this study which was based on qualitative approach. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews. Data were analyzed with content analysis. The results showed that all of the consultant teachers had project experience before the project competition, they planned or started postgraduate education after attending the project competition, teachers showed a guiding attitude during the project process. Moreover, the consultant teachers stated the idea of the project was found by the students and the report writing was carried out by the teacher. In addition, the consultant teachers stated financial inadequacies and time limitation were among the most encountered difficulties. Furthermore, the consultant teachers remarked that the exhibition was an exciting process and the presentation skills of the students improved. On the other hand, the consultant teachers stated that the projects should be original, useful and feasible, and the writing of the project report was important.