Taking Interdisciplinary Science Learning to Nature

Abstract

In recent years, efforts to form a sustainable community rather than a consumption society deprived of nature have accelerated. To raise this awareness in individuals and; more importantly, to make it sustainable, education plays a significant role. Informal and nonformal learning are vital resources for individuals to recognize the importance of nature and to establish a healthy and balanced relationship with science and nature. One of the settings to experience such learning is science and nature camps. In light of this, the main purpose of this study was to investigate how an interdisciplinary science camp consisting of STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Maths) activities would affect secondary school students’ perceptions of science and nature in rural areas. The prepared activities, it was also intended to present an application sample for process-oriented integration of science and nature practices. Within the scope of the study, 14 activities were prepared by the authors. Each activity was performed in natural areas. The study was based on a one-group pre-test post-test experimental design. The sample of the study consists of 140 students, between 5th and 8th grades, living in different villages in Bartın, Turkey. Analysis of data revealed that students' perceptions of the concepts of science and nature changed after the camp, and they gained awareness about the place of science and themselves as individuals in nature.