Achievement in and attitudes toward science: The combined effects of formal and non-formal learning

The purpose of this study is to investigate the combined effect of formal and non-formal learnings on the fifth -grade students' achievement in and attitude toward science. It compares the effects of formal education with combined effects of formal and non-formal education. An experimental design is implemented for 48 5th -grade students at a private primary school in Istanbul. In the fall term of the 2015-2016 education year, science program objectives were covered in school as formal learning. Students were taught science in the classroom and at the science laboratory. In the spring term of the 2015-2016 education year, a science program was enriched with non-formal science learning. Throughout the spring term, students were taken to the non-formal learning settings and each unit in the 5th -grade curriculum was taught both in school and at non-formal science centers. Students' achievement and attitudes were investigated with the quantitative analysis of test measurement. Wilcoxon Signed Ranks Test analysis showed that there was not a statistically significant difference between fall and spring term achievement scores of the students but that there was a statistically significant difference between their fall and spring term attitude scores. Moreover, the effects on students with varied performance were revealed.