The Effect of Activities Performed in the Science Center on Students’ Perceptions of Out-of-School Learning Environments

Abstract

This study aimed to investigate the effects of the applications conducted in the science center within the scope of the science lesson “Solar System and Beyond” unit of the 7th-grade students in the secondary school, on the perceptions of the students about the out-of-school learning environments (OSLEs). In the quantitative part of the research, in which nested design, one of the mixed research designs, was used, the study group consisted of 42 students. Also, in the quantitative part of the study, a quasi-experimental design with the pre-test-post-test control group, which is one of the experimental research methods, was used. The Science course was conducted in the classroom with the students in the control group as the program predicted. In addition to the science lessons conducted in the classroom with the experimental group students, activities within the scope of the unit were carried out in the science center and the planetarium. Quantitative data were collected with the “Out-of-School Learning Environments Perception Scale (OSLEPS)”. The follow-up test was applied to the experimental group of students three months later. In the qualitative part of the study, semi-structured interviews were conducted with eight students from the experimental and control groups. When the results obtained from the qualitative data are evaluated together with the quantitative data, it is seen that the practices in the science center and the perceptions of the experimental group students towards out-of-school learning environments differ positively compared to the control group students.