The Effect of Constructivist Learning Environment Supported with Collavorative Technologies on Students’ Academic Engagement

Yıl 2016, Cilt: 5 Sayı: 1, 13 - 18, 14.03.2016

Erhan Ünal , Hasan Çakır

Öz

Today after the end of vocational and technical education, the desired people skills are to communicate with other people, to solve problems, to use technology, to collaborate with other people, to take responsibility (Doğan, 1997). But there are some problems in the vocational and technical education. These problems are as follows: the application of traditional methods for the implementation of the curriculum, differences between gained proficiencies after the vocational and technical education and the needs of business sector, low motivation of students and achievement level (Bınıcı and Arı, 2004; Şahin and Fındık, 2008; Günbayı and Tokel, 2014). In this regard, the courses can be designed according to the principles of constructivist learning environment and collaborative learning technologies to overcome some of these problems. The purpose of this study is to determine the effect of Object Oriented Programming II course which was designed based on constructivism and supported with collaborative technologies on students’ academic engagement in the department of Computer Programming. In this respect, this research was conducted with 40 students attended the Object Oriented Programming II course in the department of Computer Programming at Afyon Kocatepe University - Afyon Vocational School. In the course, students were grouped and a problem was given each group. To solve problems, students used Edmodo, Google Tools and Mind42 (concept mapping tool). At the end of the process each group developed a software design. Mixed method was used in this research. In quantitative part of the research, data about students’ academic engagement and satisfaction were collected. To collect data about students’ academic engagement, National Survey of Student Engagement (2013) was used. This survey was adapted in Turkish culture by Korucu (2013) and was used in similar research. In the National Survey of Student Engagement, each item was rated on a four-point Likert-type scale ranging from 1 to 4. National Survey of Student Engagement has 5 subfactors which are active learning, engagement of course and requirments, student-teacher interaction, forcing state and feedback subfactors. Croanbach Alpha cooefficient was calculated as .934 in this research. To determine students’ satisfaction about the design of the course, some items has been added to the survey. In the qualitative part of the research, semi-structured interviews were conducted with selected students in each group. In the semi-structured interview form, there were questions about the effect of designed course on educational outputs. The analysis of quantitative data was completed via a statistical analysis package programme SPSS 18.0. Descriptive analysis (arithmetic mean, frequency, percent, standart deviation) was used for quantitative data (academic engagement, satisfaction). Content analysis method was conducted for qualitative data. As a result of the research, students’ academic engagement levels were high. Also most of the students were satisfied in this course. According to results of the semi-structured interviews, students stated about the educational outputs of the research that collaborative learning skill, effective learning, problem solving skill, engagement in the course, regular studying. This research contributed to the literature of the technology integration in vocational and technical education. Similar research could be conducted in the department of Computer Programming and the other departments of vocational and technical education. Also, the effect of constructivist learning environment on vocational and technical students’ achievement, satisfaction, attitudes towards profession could be studied. 

Anahtar Kelimeler

Academic engagement, constructivism, collaborative learning technologies, vocational and technical education

İşbirlikli Teknolojilerle Desteklenen Yapılandırmacı Öğrenme Ortamının Akademik Uğraşıya Etkisi

Öz

Bu çalışmanın amacı yapılandırmacılığa dayalı olarak tasarlanan ve işbirlikli teknolojiler ile desteklenen Nesneye Dayalı Programlama II dersinin bilgisayar programcılığı öğrencilerinin akademik uğraşılarına etkisini araştırmaktır. Bu amaçla Afyon Kocatepe Üniversitesi Afyon Meslek Yüksek Okulu Bilgisayar Programcılığı Bölümü’nde öğrenim gören ve Nesneye Dayalı Programlama II dersini alan 40 öğrenci ile uygulama yapılmıştır. Araştırma karma desen şeklinde yapılmıştır. Araştırmanın nicel boyutunda akademik uğraşı ve memnuniyete yönelik veriler toplanmıştır. Öğrencilerin akademik uğraşıları ölçmek için National Survey of Student Engagement ölçeği (2013) kullanılmıştır. Bu ölçek Korucu (2013) tarafından uyarlanarak benzer bir çalışmada kullanılmıştır. Akademik Uğraşı Ölçeği 4’lü likert tipi bir ölçek olup aktif öğrenme, ders ve gereksinimleri ile olan uğraşları, öğrenci ve öğretmen etkileşimi, zorlanma durumları ve geri bildirim durumları alt boyutlarından oluşan 5 faktörlü bir ölçektir. Ölçeğin bu çalışmada Croanbach Alpha güvenirlik katsayısı .934 olarak hesaplanmıştır. Ayrıca öğrencilerin memnuniyet düzeylerini belirlemek için sorular sorulmuştur. Araştırmanın nitel boyutunda ise her gruptan seçilen birer öğrenci ile görüşme yapılmıştır. Yarı yapılandırılmış görüşme formunda uygulama sürecinin eğitsel katkılarını ortaya çıkarmaya yönelik sorular sorulmuştur. Araştırmanın sonuçlarında nicel veriler (akademik uğraşı, memnuniyet) betimsel olarak analiz edilmiştir. Ayrıca öğrencilerle yapılan görüşmelerde uygulama sürecinin işbirliğine dayalı çalışma becerisi, kalıcı öğrenmeye katkı, problem çözme becerisi, uğraşı, planlı çalışma gibi eğitsel çıktılara katkı sağladığı bulunmuştur.

Anahtar Kelimeler

Akademik uğraşı, yapılandırmacılık, işbirlikli teknolojiler, mesleki ve teknik eğitim