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ERIC Number: EJ1070727
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2015-Jun
Pages: 24
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: EISSN-1609-4913
EISSN: N/A
A Summer Camp Experience of Primary Student: Let's Learn Astronomy, Explore the Space Summer Camp
Aktamis, Hilal; Acar, Esin; Unal Coban, Gul
Asia-Pacific Forum on Science Learning and Teaching, v16 n1 Article 1 Jun 2015
It is important to structure children's knowledge and arouse their interest in subjects like astronomy and space. Although we now talk of travelling to the moon, space tourism etc., knowledge about astronomy and space is limited and perceptions of these subjects do not reflect scientific reality. Primary level students often have misconceptions about nature and the universe. This study aims at raising the participating students' awareness of the concepts and themes of astronomy and space and identifying whether they are able to use the knowledge they acquire in this process in their daily lives. The participants are applied a pretest and a post-test in the form of comprehension questions about astronomy and space. Parallel to that, a semi-structured interview and Scientific Knowledge Scale was applied before and after the science camp. Moreover, at the end of the camp the students were asked to write compositions and to draw pictures for observing their skills about expressing astronomy in both written and visual data. The results are also supported by quantitative data. The obtained qualitative and quantitative data was analyzed. By the end of the activity based program, the participant students effortlessly learned about astronomy and space, and their interest on the topic increased. If enhancing students' concepts about astronomy with enjoyable instruction without exam worries is considered an important issue for teachers and other educators, science camps can be suggested to enhance other relevant and irrelevant science concepts as well.
Hong Kong Institute of Education. 10 Lo Ping Road, Tai Po, New Territories, Hong Kong. Tel: +011-852-2948-7650; Fax: +011-852-2948-7726; e-mail: apfslt@sci.ied.edu.hk; Web site: http://www.ied.edu.hk/apfslt
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Elementary Education; Grade 6; Intermediate Grades; Middle Schools; Grade 7; Junior High Schools; Secondary Education; Grade 8
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A