Analysis of the Effects of Project-Based Education on the Visual Perceptions of Five-Year-Old Children (60 -72 Months)

Abstract

The current study aimed to identify whether the project-based approach affects the visual perception skills of five-year-old preschool children (60-72 months). The universe of the study was constituted of five-year-old (60-72 months) children enrolled in preschools affiliated with the Turkish Ministry of National Education in the provincial centre of Kayseri during the 2012-2013 academic year. The study was performed using a control group, pretest-posttest and retention test study design. The study was conducted in two preschools selected through the simple random sampling method, and with one class selected from each one of these kindergartens. 22 children in these classes formed the study group, while 22 children formed the control group. Children in the control group continued their normal education, while children in the study group took part in a project work that lasted for 41 days, and which they performed for three hours a day. A general information form and the Motor-Free Visual Perception Test 3 (MVPT-3) developed by Colarusso and Hammill (2003) – the reliability and validity study for which was performed by Metin (2014) – were used as data collection tools in the study. The obtained data were analyzed using covariance analysis (ANCOVA) and ANOVA. The study results indicated that the project-based approach led to a significant difference (p<0.001) between the groups in terms of visual perception skill levels, with the study group exhibiting a higher level of visual perception.The study results also showed that the difference between the mean scores for the post-test and retention test was not significant (p>0.05) for children in the study group, thus indicating that the education provided to the study group had a lasting and continuous effect.