Experiences of science teachers on field trips to out-of-school learning environments

Parallel to the rapid development of science and technology, in today's world where our education system is constantly undergoing change and renewal, the currents of thought that are thought to only be taught at school have been losing their influences. At the same time, in my field writing, it is seen that there are many studies showing the positive effects of out-of-school learning environments on students' learning. In this study, it is aimed to reveal what science teachers experienced during the planning, implementation, evaluation and monitoring stages of their trips to out-of-school environments, what problems they encountered and possible solutions. In this study, phenomenological pattern, one of the qualitative method pattern types, is used. In this study, using the criterion sampling method, the fact that the teachers interviewed made trips to learning environments out of school is taken as the criterion. Within the scope of the research, interviews are made with 24 science teachers, 12 male and 12female.Semi-structured interview form is used as data collection tool. Content analysis and descriptive analysis are used in the analysis of the data obtained through online interviews with science teachers. The results show that the purpose of teachers' trip arrangements is to provide students' biodiversity, love of environment and animals, recycling, energy consumption awareness, love of science and cultural awareness. It is seen that the teachers do not make any preparations for the social skill development of the students before the trip, and they think that the trip should take place spontaneously in the natural environment for skill development. It is observed that teachers prefer verbal methods more than written methods in evaluating trips because they do not require preparation and take less time. Teachers stated that they observed the positive cognitive and social effects of the trips on their student even months after the excursion. As a result of the research, it is seen that the biggest obstacles to organizing trips are the permitting processes, cost recovery of the trip, student control and transportation.