Abstract

Out-of-school laboratories offer the chance to teach science action-oriented and problem-based in an original context. The effectiveness of out-of-school laboratories have primarily been investigated by changes in the student’s attitude before and after the visit, however, the direct comparison between the regular science class and the out-of-school teaching has so far mostly been neglected. The present study closes the current gap by allowing the students to directly compare both learning situations (workshop in the laboratory and the regular biology lessons) in a questionnaire study (N = 163). Results show that the out-of-school learning situation implements facets of moderate constructivism (active and social) significantly better and a higher value of interest is achieved in comparison to the regular biology lessons in school. Moreover, frustration is significantly lower at the out-of-school laboratory. Rank order correlation imply coherence between the previous knowledge concerning the topic of the workshop and the other factors. Prospectively, a preparatory script for each workshop will be developed to allow a better preparation in school and guide the teachers.

Key words: Biology education; evaluation; out of school learning; student laboratories

How to cite: Wegner, C., & Schmiedebach, M. (2023). Comparing (Out of) School Learning in a Student Laboratory with the Regular Biology Lessons. Journal of Innovation in Psychology, Education and Didactics, 27(2), 129-140. doi:10.29081/JIPED.2023.27.2.01.