'I was not aware that I did not know': developing a sense of place with place-based education

The current research aims to reveal how place-based education (PBE) increases prospective social studies teachers' awareness of the local community and develops a sense of place in them. We employed the case study model to achieve this purpose. In the first stage of the study, each of the 14 participants studying at a public university located in Konya, a city in south-central Turkey, interviewed 10 people to determine local people's level of awareness of local historical and cultural elements. In the second stage, the participants developed various projects based on the data obtained from the interviews to increase local people's awareness of local historical and cultural heritage elements. In the third stage, the participants submitted their projects to relevant stakeholders. We evaluated the data by using the content analysis method. The results of the study showed that PBE applications promoted prospective teachers' sense of place and social participation skills. Besides, it was determined that these applications contributed to the active learning, communication, research, and historical thinking skills of the participants. The results are discussed with the relevant literature in terms of integrating PBE applications into undergraduate education, and some suggestions are presented.