This study was conducted to determine the art interests and aesthetic appreciation perceptions of undergraduate art education students and to investigate the relationship between these two variables. The main objective of the study is to evaluate the aesthetic appreciation perceptions and art interests of art education students and to examine the relationship between these variables and to reveal the nature of this relationship, if any. The research was conducted with 26 students studying at Erzincan Binali Yıldırım University, Faculty of Education, Department of Art and Design Education in the 2023-2024 academic year. Aesthetic Appreciation Questionnaire and Art Interest Scale were used as data collection tools in the study. In this study aimed at determining the art interests and aesthetic appreciation perceptions of undergraduate art education students, simultaneous research design, which is a mixed-method research in which quantitative and qualitative methods are used together, was used. Spss 25 data analysis program and descriptive statistics were used for the analysis of quantitative data, and descriptive analysis method was used for the analysis of qualitative data. According to the findings of the research, it is seen that the relationship between art interests and aesthetic appreciation perceptions of undergraduate art education students is moderate, positive and significant. In addition, it is seen that students have sufficient knowledge about Renaissance and Baroque works and they like the paintings. It is understood that they have partial knowledge about impressionism, cubism, expressionism and suprematism and that they have deficiencies in modern art periods.

Keywords: Art educatıon, Aesthetic appreciation, İnterest in art, Undergraduate students