Students' views about enriched summer camp for high school students

Abstract

In New Era high level thinking skills, personal development and network could be demonstrated as the keys of life success. Because of this, enrichment camps became very popular. This paper presents the layout and results of a summer camp project that aims to promote insight on high school students towards many disciplines of science, culture, develop their self-confidence and help high school students to choose the most appropriate job for themselves. The students introduced university lectures from different branches such as; molecular biology and genetics, solid works, international relations, forensic psychology, nano materials and x-ray analyses etc. The the core body of knowledge has been enriched with applications in a laboratory environment. The students have been assigned to learn by experience with the help of hands-on project design activities during the project. Drama, cultural tours, seminars, meetings, sports, dance and yoga have been used as social activities for introducing campus life and facilities. In addition to these, the students have also been informed about the importance of discovering their interests and talents within the scope of this camp. This program was in operation in summer term of 2015-2016 academic year at Istanbul Aydin University. The students were given semi-structured interview and the data were analyzed through descriptive analysis. The sample of the study consists of 39 students coming from different state and private schools in different cities. The results indicated that summer camp increased academic motivation, awareness of life and career also the socialization skills of the participants. Besides, the students stated that they were able to be recognize of a university, university environment, scientists and different professions.