The effect of using zoos in science education on students academic achievement and anxiety towards science and teachers-studentsconceptions

In this study it was aimed to investigate the effect of using zoos which are one of the informal learning environments, as an educational resource on students?academic achievement and anxiety towards science. Meanwhile, elementary students?and science and technology teachers?conceptions regarding usage of these environments in science education were also investigated. For this purpose, an embedded design which is a mixed methods design was used since both qualitative and quantitative data were collected to resolve the problem.The quantitative part of the study was designed according to pre test-post test control group design which is a quasi-experimental design, and the study group of this part was composed of 65 sixth grade students of Piri Reis Elementary School in Gölcük which is a district in the province of Kocaeli. The study was conducted in 2011-2012 academic year. In the experimental group that was composed of 33 students, variety of activities were conducted in the zoo while with 32 students in the control group teaching was carried out in accordance with the existing program. An achievement test that was developed by the researcher, related to ?Animal Reproduction, Growth and Development? and ?Anxiety Scale Towards Science? developed by Güzeller and Doğru (2011) were used as a data collection instrument and administered as a pre test, post test and retention test in both groups. The results obtained indicated that there was no statistically significant difference between experimental and control group students? pre test achievement mean scores while a statistically significant difference was found in post test achievement mean scores. The academic achievement scores of experimental group students were higher than that of the control group students. However, there was no statistically significant difference between retention mean achievement scores of students in both groups. Meanwhile, no significant difference was found between control group students? post test and retention mean achivement scores, but a significant difference was observed in experimental group. These results indicate that the experimental procedures applied do not have a significant effect on retention of knoowledge. In addition, there was no statistically significant difference between experimental and control group students?pre, post and retention anxiety mean scores. Meanwhile, no significant difference was observed between experimental group students? anxiety post test and retention scores while there was a significant difference between control group students? anxiety post test and retention scores. These results indicate that the intervention conducted did not change students?anxiety towards science.In qualitative part of the study, semi-structured interviews were conducted with students and teachers in order to obtain their conceptions regarding the current status of zoos in science teaching. In this context to obtain qualitative data the study group was composed of 33 sixth grade students of Piri Reis Elementary School and 36 science and technology teachers who works in Gölcük district. As a result of interviews conducted with teachers, it was emerged teachers can bennefit from zoos in education and training activities that are related to science and technology course curriculum. Meanwhile, they have stated the contribution of zoos to education by emphasizing the positive effects of zoos on students `cognitive and affective characteristics. As a result of the interviews conducted with students, it was concluded that they have perceived zoos as an educational environment and science can be learned outside of the classroom. Moreover, they have established a relationship between activities conducted in zoos and science and technology course and it was found that environments like zoo affect students? thoughts regarding science and technology course in a cognitive and effective level. In conclusion, teachers?and students?opinions were investigated and results of an experimental study were presented in this study. In general, results obtained have presented findings regarding the importance and about the use of zoos to promote science teaching in Turkey.Keywords: Informal Learning Environments, Zoo, Academic Achievement and Anxiety Towards Science, Teachers?and Students?Opinions, Out Of School Learning