The effect of out-of-school learning environments on the academic achievement and environmental awareness of secondary school 5th grade students: Human and environment unit

This study aims to examine the effects of the Human and Environment unit in the 5th grade middle school science course curriculum on students' academic success and environmental awareness by processing them in out-of-school learning environments. It was aimed to make recommendations for the future and determine their reflections on the process by obtaining the opinions of the students and parents. For this purpose, the science course outcomes were processed in out-of-school learning environments for four weeks, open-ended questions were applied to students, in the fifth and sixth weeks, in-class activities were carried out, and interviews were conducted with parents. A mixed method with a qualitative emphasis was used in the study. The study group consisted of 5th grade students studying in a state secondary school in Tatvan district of Bitlis province and their parents in the 2023-2024 academic year. The data of the study were collected with environmental achievement test (ÇBT), student open-ended questions, environmental awareness open-ended questions, and parent interview questions. Expert opinion was used while preparing the study questions. The quantitative data in the study were analyzed using the SPSS-27 program. In the pre-test-post-test analysis, non-parametric wilcoxon signed ranks analysis was applied. The qualitative data of the study were analyzed with the content analysis method. The students' impressions and thoughts about the out-of-school learning environments were expressed, and at the same time, the parents' thoughts about the out-of-school learning environments and the changes on the students were tried to be determined with the interview form prepared by listening to the parents. The interviews were recorded with a voice recorder and written down. Finally, the necessary codes and themes were created, and evaluations were made. According to the Wilcoxon Signed Ranks test results, the pre-test and post-test scores of the environmental achievement test showed a statistically significant difference (p=,000<0,05). The Post-Test Score was found to be significantly different and higher than the Pre-Test Score. Therefore, it can be said that out-of-school learning activities contributed positively to the students' science achievement. However, when the qualitative analysis data were examined, it was concluded that environmental awareness and consciousness were formed in the students, they actively participated in the process, they found the lesson fun, they gained direct experience, they started to like the science lesson more, and their interest and motivation in the lesson increased. In addition, according to the parents' opinions, they stated that out-of-school learning environments increased the students' self-confidence, created environmental awareness, gained sensitivity, there was an increase in their curiosity about the environment, increased permanence by providing concrete learning, provided a sense of responsibility, developed socialization skills and found them useful. In this direction, it was determined from both the parents' opinions and the student responses that out-of-school learning environments had positive reflections on the students.