The effects of 'Reproduction, growth and development in plants' subject supported by out-of-school learning environments on 7th grade students' academic achievement and attitudes

This study was conducted to determine the effect of teaching activities in out-of-school learning environments on students' academic achievement, retention level of the gains and attitudes towards science course. The sample of the study consisted of two 7th-grade classes from Gündoğdu Düriye Duran Secondary School in Manavgat district of Antalya province. Experimental and control groups were formed randomly from these two branches participating in the study. A total of 35 students, n=18 from the experimental group and n=17 from the control group, participated in the study. The study was designed according to the quasi-experimental research design with pretest-posttest control group from quantitative research methods. The studies were planned on the acquisitions of the subject of reproduction, growth and development in plants, which is taught in the 7th-grade science course, and the experimental group was taught the subject on cultivated plants in the planting area created in the garden of the school and on wild plants in the nearby land, while the control group was applied only in the classroom. As a data collection tool, Achievement Test and Science Course Attitude Scale were applied as pre-test and post-test. The data obtained were analyzed with SPSS package program and Shapiro-Wilk test was used to determine whether the groups showed normal distribution before and after the application. The dependent sample t-test was used for the dependent pre-test and post-test comparative analysis within groups, the independent sample t-test was used for the independent pre-test post-test comparative analysis between groups, and the Wilcoxon Signed Rank Test was used for the Rank Test. The analyses revealed that the teaching activities of the relevant unit carried out in out-of-school learning environments were more effective compared to the teaching activities carried out in the classroom, and although there was a significant difference in both groups, it was seen that the significant difference in the experimental group was higher. Results were also obtained in favor of the experimental group in the total scores obtained from the attitude toward science learning scale. Therefore, it was suggested that the school garden and its immediate surroundings would also contribute to learning and that the Ministry of National Education should encourage the use of possible school gardens by establishing greenhouses or hobby gardens for such learning and to increase the use of such out-of-school learning environments.