Examination of the Effects of Project Based Learning Approach on Students’ Attitudes Towards Chemistry and Test Anxiety

The aim of this research is to examine the changes in attitudes towards chemistry and the test anxiety of teacher candidates in project based learning applications. The study was conducted in the fall semester of the 2009-2010 academic years. The study was comprised of 29 students who were in the 4 class of chemistry th teaching. The one-group pretest-posttest was implemented in this study in which a project based learning (PBL) approach was applied. A scale of attitude towards chemistry and test anxiety was devised for the purposes of this study. The scales were applied to the study group before and after the implementation. Non-parametric Wilcoxon signed-rank test for paired samples was used to examine whether there was a change in the averages of the pretest and posttest scores of students. Correlation analysis was applied for the relation between the final academic success grade and test anxiety and attitude. At the end of the research, the anxiety levels of the teacher candidates were found to be decreased. However, no significant effect of PBL was found on the attitudes and test anxiety of students and no significant difference was found between the attitude and anxiety scores of the students and academic success.