The effect of online science centers, out-of-school learning environments, on students' academic success, attitude and motivation in the teaching of the solar system and beyond unit in the 7th grade science course

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of online science centers teaching applications on 7th-grade students' academic achievement, attitudes, and motivation in science courses. The research was conducted with a total of 60 students (30 experimental, 30 control) attending a secondary school in Alanya district of Antalya province during the 2024-2025 academic year. The study employed a quasi-experimental design, and data were collected through "Academic Achievement Test", "Science Attitude Scale", and "Science Motivation Scale". While online science center applications were used in the experimental group, traditional teaching methods were applied in the control group. SPSS v26 program was used for data analysis, and ANCOVA analysis was performed. The results showed that online science center applications had a statistically significant and positive effect on students' academic achievement, attitudes toward science course, and motivation toward science. The adjusted post-test means of the experimental group were found to be higher than the control group for all variables. In light of these findings, it was concluded that online science center applications can be used as an effective method in science teaching and can positively affect students' academic achievement, attitudes, and motivation.