THE EFFECT OF ECOLOGY-BASED NATURE ACTIVITIES ON UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS’ SCIENTIFIC PROCESS SKILLS

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of ecology based nature activities on undergraduate students’ scientific process skills. The study was performed in Aladağlar National Park and Bolkar Mauntains Region in Turkey. Experimental design was used in the study. The sample of the study was 24 students who study in public undergraduate schools from seven different geographic regions of Turkey. Scientific process skills test, developed by Okey, Wise and Burns and adapted to Turkish by Ozkan, Askar and Geban (1994), was applied as a data collection tool. The scale consisted of 26 items. Mann Whitney U-Test analysis technique was used in the study. Analysis of the scientific process skils test data obtained from the research group indicated that there were statistically significant differences supporting the posttest scores of the research group. 

Keywords: Ecology, environmental education, scientific process skills.