THE EFFECT OF OUT-OF-SCHOOL SCIENCE LEARNING ENVIRONMENT ON THE UNDERSTANDING THE NATURE OF SCIENCE OF THE 7TH GRADE STUDENTS IN SECONDARY SCHOOL

Abstract

The purpose of this research is to examine the effects of out-of-school science learning environments on the understanding of the science nature of seventh-grade students in secondary school. In this study, pre-test post-test group pattern model was used. The participants of the survey consisted of 22 students who attended the 7th grade in the village school of Göynücek in Amasya. Within the scope of the research, The Nature of Science Instrument developed for middle school students was used. SPPS 21 package program was used to analyse the data. As a result of the data analysis, the average of the total scores of the students from the preliminary test was 25.04 whereas the average of the total scores from the final test was 27.86. A statistically significant difference was found between the mean scores of the pre-test and post-test total scores of the t test for the dependent groups [t(21)= -4.38, p=0.00]. This difference is in favour of the final test total score averages. When the findings are examined, it can be concluded that the extracurricular learning environment is effective in increasing the understanding of the nature of science by secondary school 7th grade students. The activities of the out-of-school learning environment can be organized in a long-term so that the nature of science can be explored in terms of different variables.