A qualitative research related to project and performance tasks held in primary schools

Abstract

Project and performance tasks that have been used in primary school program to improve higher level thinking skills since 2005-2006 education year and that were prepared according to constructivist approach have brought an understanding different from traditional assessment. According to the results related to project and performance tasks, it is emphasized that teachers and families experience some problems during the process. The aim of this study which was designed according to the given results is to reveal teacher and family opinions related to project and performance tasks held in primary school first grades. The participants of the study where qualitative research design was applied, were 15 class teachers working at primary schools in Eskisehir city center in 2008-2009 fall semester and 16 parents whose children are attending the mentioned schools. In the study maximum diversity sampling method which is one of the sampling methods was used. The analysis of the data collected through semi-structured interview technique were done by using descriptive analysis technique. The results of the study revealed that according to primary school teachers project and performance tasks improve students' self-confidence; however, in group projects only the leading students could have this self-confidence. When the results related to families are taken into consideration, families believe that project and performance tasks help students to be more social and improve their self-confidence