The Effect of Planned Trips to Zoos on Learning in Science Education And Determining Student Remarks About The Trip Process1

Abstract

In this study, researching the effect of a planned trip to one of the informal learning environments, zoos, on learning and taking students’ opinions about the trip were aimed. The working group consists of 15 fifth grade students. The Experimental method was used in this research. The academic achievement test developed by the researcher was applied to the students before and after the
trip to determine the effect of the planned zoo trip on the students' learning. To determine the change in students' misconceptions, concept maps were drawn before and after the trip. For the students’ views about this learning experience, a semi-structured interview form was used. Pre and posttest results gotten from the achievement test were evaluated with Wilcoxon signed ranks test; the data obtained from the concept maps were analyzed with error frequencies, and the students’ judgments received from a
semi-structured interview about this learning experience were examined with content analysis method. Results of the research showed that a well-organized zoo trip has a positive effect on learning; that there is a meaningful difference between students’ pretest and posttest academic achievement scores for the benefit of posttest; that it does not have any effect on misconceptions about general classification, however, it is effective on, more specifically, misconceptions about animal classification. Students have
found this trip entertaining and informative.