The Effect of Nature Education on Students' Motivations towards Science Learning and Socialization Skills

Abstract

The aim of this study is to investigate the effect of nature education on students’ motivations towards science learning and socialization skills. The study was conducted on 7th-grade students in a state school in İstanbul. 14 nature education activities were performed. The data collection tools were: Students’ Motivation toward Science Learning Scale conducted both before and after the implementation and a Socialization Skills Open-ended Form performed at the end of the implementation. Content analysis was applied to determine the opinions of the students in the socialization skills form. The codes and themes formed as a result of data analysis were demonstrated within the tables. The data collected by students' Motivation Scale for Science Learning was analyzed with T-Test. At the end of the study, results indicated that students found the nature education helpful for socialization skills. Moreover, it was revealed that students’ scores of the motivations towards science demonstrated a meaningful change throughout the study.