Examining academicians' and teachers' opinions on designing science activities in informal setting

In order to reach the suggestions that will make more effective the science teaching process in informal settings, the main purpose of this study is to examine the views of teachers and academicans about the design and application process of science activity in informal settings. For this purpose, data were collected from 304 science teachers and 34 academicans. The criterion sampling method, one of the purposive sampling methods, was used in the selection of the sample group. This criterion was determined as science teachers working actively in the schools affiliated to the Ministry of National Education during the 2018-2019 academic year. For academicans, this criterion is to teach the science courses in education faculties of the universities affiliated to Higher Education Institution. In order to gain deeper knowledge, teachers were subdivided according to their characteristics. These characteristics were teachers who take education and do not take education about science teaching in informal setting, apply and do not apply process of science activity in informal settings, the frequency of applications and want to apply in a term and seniority. In this study, two separate questionnaires were prepared for the application of data to teachers and instructors. In order to collect more detailed data, surveys were adapted to online form. These questionnaires were sent to the contact addresses from official websites. The data obtained in the study were analyzed with descriptive analysis technique. Each sub-group of the teachers and the sample group of the academicans were analyzed based on each open-ended question in the data collection tool. Results were examined by using descriptive statistics. It was found out that the teachers and academicans used informal setting for teaching, trips and developing skills such as metacognitive thinking, scientific process and social. Before the process of science teaching in informal setting, they chose the environment, making plans and getting permission and during this process they created and managed. Also, it was seen that teachers and academicans did not pay attention to the process of after the trip, they wanted to use more student-centered strategies, methods and techniques, and they attached importance to the criteria based on students and the environment for creating a successful process. In addition, teachers and academicans had many difficulties during designing and implementing these processes. The knowledge about science teaching in informal setting of teachers and academicans were not at the desired level for all teachers and academicans. The frequencies of the informal setting that they use were not at the desired level for all teachers and academicans. Although the frequencies of the informal environments that they used were low, the frequency generally increased when asked what they want to use. It is a positive result that teachers want to use informal environments more. In addition, it was seen that teachers who use informal environments at least in a term care about preparations for planning and implementing. When seniority was compared, the teachers who have seniority between 1 to 5 years care more about goals and gains, teachers who have seniority more than 16 years care more about student safety. Key words: informal learning environments, science teachings, views of teachers, views of academicans