Primary School Students Perceptions about 21st Century Learning Practices

This study was conducted to reveal primary school students' perceptions of 21st-century learning practices. A quantitative research design was adopted in this study. Research data were collected from appropriate sampling 622 4th-grade students attending public schools in a city center located in the central region of Turkey. "Students' Perception of 21st Century Learning Practices Scale" was administrated as data collection tool. In the analysis of the obtained data, t test and regression analysis are used. It was concluded that students' perceptions towards thinking skills were above average in the sub-dimensions of critical thinking, creative thinking, and authentic problem solving and knowledge creation efficiency. As a result of t-tests it was concluded that the educational status of the father, having preschool education and having a computer differ significantly according to some sub-dimensions. As a result of the regression analysis, it was concluded that the variables based on Chai et al. (2015) that explain the knowledge creation efficacy are creative thinking, authentic problem solving, self-directed learning and critical thinking. The study results showed that providing rich learning practices related to teaching thinking skills to students creates positive learning outcomes. This research results also indicated that the students participating in the study had similar perceptions with the students who had rich learning practices.