Elementary students' knowledge and interests related to active learning in a summer camp at a zoo

Noah C Shields, Purdue University

Abstract

Active learning in an informal education context can increase student knowledge and interest in the academic content. If educators are able to influence situational interest and knowledge of students participating in informal science education program, it might be possible that this situational interest and knowledge will be taken back to students' formal classrooms and influence their interest to learn science in schools and classrooms. Increasing students' science knowledge and interest is becoming increasingly important in today's educational climate because many students are not pursuing careers in science because of a lack of knowledge and interest in the scientific endeavor. The purpose of this exploratory study was to describe the relationships between active learning, the educator, and students' prior interest and experiences and the youth outcomes of science knowledge and interest at the end of a week-long zoo camp experience. This study took place over five weeks of a summer camp program at a small zoo in a small Midwest town including 96 participants from ages eight to eleven, their parents, and four camp educators. Students completed a pre- and post-test, while parents completed a single questionnaire at the end of the camp, and educators completed a demographics questionnaire and activity checklist throughout the week-long instructional period. Because this was the first assessment of this kind for the zoo's summer camp program, assessment tools were designed to gather data regarding the dependent variables of student knowledge and interest and the independent variables of students' prior interest, prior knowledge, prior experience, gender, connection to learning, educators' experience, parents' value, and the average level of active learning. There were four major conclusions of this study. First, students were similarly knowledgeable in general science before and after the summer zoo camp and half were interested in learning science in school and pursuing a career in science in the future. Second, students' interest in learning environmental science beyond the camp setting was related to their connection to the zoo-camp experience. Third, informal educators reported higher levels of active learning in the zoo camp if they were male, had more years of teaching experience, or had teaching experience in informal learning settings and no teaching experiences in formal educational settings. Fourth, boys had higher science knowledge before and after the camp compared to girls. The results of this study suggest that zoo education programs may serve as important educational resources for local communities by helping students build science interest that translate back to formal schools and influence their interest in learning science, both as a student and later in life. In future studies, the relationships between students' connection to camp, learning science in school, and motivation to pursue a science career should be specifically scrutinized to determine if this translation is present. Longitudinal studies should be conducted to determine the long-term interests and motivations of students after they return to school from participating in zoo summer camps.

Degree

M.S.

Advisors

Knobloch, Purdue University.

Subject Area

Environmental education|Educational evaluation

COinS