An investigation of the 21st century skills use of university students in Turkey

An investigation of the 21st century skills use

Abstract

This study aims to evaluate the use of 21st century skills by university students. The study was designed via relational survey model. The study group was consisted of 244 university students studying in different departments of an educational faculty of a state university in Turkey and determined by random sampling method. The data in the study were collected via “21st century learner scale” developed by Orhan Göksün (2016). The data was analyzed by the help of parametric tests and comparatively independent variables such as gender, class level, department and academic achievement. According to the results of the study, the students generally apply cognitive and innovation skills; but sometimes autonomous and collaboration/ flexibility skills. Another result of this study is that female students have higher cognitive skills, which makes a significant difference from male students. On the other hand, no gender-based significant difference was found. Considering department based differences, it was concluded that there is only significant difference in favor of the students at the classroom teaching department in the collaboration and flexibility dimension. In the analyses made considering the class level, it was concluded that the higher the grade level is, the higher level of 21st century skills the students have. Lastly, there is a linear relationship between skill scores and the academic achievement scores of the students. Based on the findings, it is suggested that curriculum development/change and effective teaching/learning methods be applied to support students to gain and use 21st century skills.