bayer genç bilim elçileri 2012-2013 final raporu

7/28/2019 Bayer Gen Bilim Elileri 2012-2013 Final Raporu

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BAYER YOUNG SCIENCE AMBASSADORS

JUNE 2012JUNE 2013

FINAL REPORT


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CONTENTS

Executive Summary.............................................................................................................................................. 2

Project Summary .................................................................................................................................................. 4

Project Statistics ................................................................................................................................................... 6

Project Content ..................................................................................................................................................... 8

Project Activities .................................................................................................................................................. 9

Determination of TOG Volunteers ............................................................................................................. 14

Scientific Literacy Training ......................................................................................................................... 15

Local Dissemination Trainings .................................................................................................................... 16

Project Training for Bayer Employees ........................................................................................................ 17

Science Workshop for Bayer Employees Children ...................................................................................... 18

Field Visits ................................................................................................................................................... 19

Exchange Between Science Ambassadors .................................................................................................. 20

Best Practices in Education Conference .................................................................................................... 21

BYSA Workshop on BAYER 150th Anniversary Exhibition .......................................................................... 22

BYSA on Media ............................................................................................................................................ 23

Project Team ............................................................................................................................................... 30

Links ........................................................................................................................................................... 31

Final Evaluation Report..................................................................................................................................... 32


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BAYER YOUNG SCIENCE AMBASSADORS FINAL REPORT

Project Name Bayer Young Science Ambassadors (BYSA)

Project Partner Bayer Turk & Toplum Gnllleri Vakf (Community Volunteers

Foundation) -TOG

Financial Supporter Bayer Turk

Implementation

Period

01.06.201230.06.2013

Reporting Period 01.06.201230.06.2013

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Bayer Young Science Ambassadors, the social responsibility project on scientific literacy that is implemented

through the partnership of BAYER Turk and Toplum Gnllleri Vakf (Community Volunteers Foundation)

- TOG, fosters the creative and critical thinking of the primary school children and young university students

in its second year. Because the Turkeys rank is at the lower mean performance in science in PISA researches,

BYSA has an important and unique role to be a good example in education.

TOG, as a youth NGO that gathers young people all over Turkey on the different subjects on the local,

national and international level, creates participation areas for the empowerment of young people and use non

formal education tools to spread the idea and vision.

The pilot years evaluation report shows that BYSA project increases the scientific literacy amongst young

people and supports the learning processes of children on natural science in primary schools. The project

increases the curiosity of primary school children about science and technology. Young people are being role

models for the children now and will be in the future.

The aims of the BYSA Project;

By creating the scientific literacy amongst Young Community Volunteers (age between 17-25);


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Supporting the science education Supporting the children and their learning process at primary schools (age between 10-12)

The main objectives of the BYSA Project;

Accordingly, the main objective of the project is to improve the scientific literacy level of its target groups

(4th, 5

thand 6

thgrade primary school students and young community volunteers ) by providing space for them

to;

Get motivated to learn about and understand nature, Have curiosity about science and technology, Try to understand the interrelations among science, technology, society and environment, Get willing to question, reason and understand the happenings and facts in nature Question their prejudices about science and scientists Understand and appreciate the value of science and technology.

Through the partnership of Bayer Turkey and TOG, between June 2012 and June 2013,

Project Content and booklets for young science ambassadors and for children were revised by theproject consultant with the recommendations of pilot years evaluation report.

Tools for monitoring and evaluation of the project were revised by the external expert. 24 Young TOG volunteers participated in the Scientific Literacy Training that took place in Istanbul. Local Dissemination Trainings were held in each project implementing city in order to share the

knowledge and experiences with the new volunteers in order to expand the project team and reach

more primary school children.

In total, 175 young science ambassadors reached 1582 children until the end of June 2013. Training for Bayer employees was designed and carried out with a participation of 30 employees. A Science Workshop was carried out for Bayer employees children where approximately 36

children participated in.

Field visits to local project groups were done by TOG, Bayer Turkey and media representatives. As a new tool, exchange between each local project teams supported young science ambassadors to

share knowledge and have different experience in order to improve their ability.

BYSA Project was presented in Best Practices Education Conference that is hold by EducationReform Initiative.

A science workshop was made by the young science ambassadors to 155 children in the scope ofBayer 150th Anniversary Exhibition.


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PROJECT SUMMARY

Pilot Period Perspective of the Project Targeted Achieved

Number of matching TOG organization & school

on project

6 TOG organization

6 primary schools

6 TOG organization

13 primary schools

Number of direct beneficiary children 1350 1582

Number of indirect beneficiary children 2700 3164

Total TOG volunteer participated to project 36 175

TOTAL 4086 4934

Implementation Area

stanbul, Bolu, Edirne, Ordu, Osmaniye and Kars

TOG Youth Organizations Implementing the Project

stanbul University, Bolu Abant zzet Baysal University, Trakya University, Kafkas University, Ordu

University and Osmaniye Korkut Ata University TOG Groups.

Project Implemented Primary Schools:

Primary schools were determined with the assistance of the Directorates of Education.

stanbul: Dr. Sadk Ahmet Onaylkretim Okulu

Bolu: Cumhuriyet lkretim Okulu

AtatrkIlkretim Okulu


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Milli Egemenlik lkretim Okulu

50.Yl zzet Baysal lkretim Okulu

Kars: Namk Kemallkretim Okulu

Mihrali Bey lkretim Okulu

Edirne: 50.Yllkretim Okulu

Byk Gerdelli lkretim Okulu

Ordu: Hamdullah Suphi lkretim Okulu

Gzel Ordu lkretim Okulu

Osmaniye: ehit Yasemin Tekin lkretim Okulu

Dede Korkut lkretim Okulu

Edirne

Target Group

The children in the project implemented primary schools (age between 10-12) The young people at the TOG Youth Organizations in the universities (age between 1725)

The Aims of the BYSA Project


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By creating the scientific literacy amongst Young Community Volunteers (age between 17-25);

Supporting the science education Supporting the children and their learning process at primary schools (age between 10-12)

The Main Objectives of the Projects 2nd Year

As the first year, the main objective of the 2nd

year of the project is to improve the scientific literacy level of

its target groups (4th, 5

thand 6

thgrade primary school students and young community volunteers ) by

providing space for them to;


Project Partners

Bayer Turk

TOG Vakf

Stakeholder

Ministry of EducationExpected Outcomes

A revised non-formal training module on scientific literacy (SLT) 36 young community volunteers as the Science Ambassadors 1350 scientific literate children in 6 primary schools (workshop participants)

PROJECT STATISTICS

24 TOG Volunteers participated in Scientific Literacy Training to be young science ambassadors which was

held in Istanbul between Oct 30thNov 4th 2011.

Gender Distribution of the participants:


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Table 1:

Gender equality and positive discrimination were two of the criteria of selection process.

In total, 175 young science ambassadors and 1582 children joined the project in the second year in six cities.

Getting the legal permissions from Directorates of Education took different durations in each city. Therefore,

each project group started volunteering at different times as it was in the pilot year.

In the second year of the Project, those activities were done by the end of June 2013: Getting Legal

Permissions from Directorates of Education, Revisng the Training Module with the project consultant,

Determining the Youth Organizations joining the Project, Training of Local Project Groups, Local

Dissemination Trainings, Determination of the Project Implementation Schools, Determination of the

Children in the Project, Exchange Between Young Science Ambassadors, Science Workshops, Training of

Bayer Employees, Monitoring and Evaluation, Project Evaluation Meeting, Field Visits, Communication and

Project Coordination.

Table 2, below, shows the timetable of the activities.

Table 2: Project Activities by the end of June 2013

City/Gender Male Female

Bolu 2 2

stanbul 1 3

Kars 2 2

Osmaniye 2 2

Trakya 0 4

Ordu 1 3

Total 8 16

24


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Activities Months 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 1 2 3 4 5 6

Permissions from Directorates of Education

Building up the Project Team

Revising the Training Module

Revising the Project Content

Determining the Youth Organizations joining the Project

Traning of the Project Teams

Determination of the Project Implementation Schools

Determination of the Children in the Project

Exchange betw een Sicence Ambassadors

Monitoring & Evaluation

Monitoring & Evaluation Reporting

Communication

Reporting

Project Coordination


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PROJECT CONTENT

General Aim of the workshops

Children have a natural curiosity about the things happening around them. Curiosity is the main trigger of

learning. With this two days workshop, by the natural curiosity of children, the Project is aiming to get their

attraction focused on science by experiencing enjoyable experiments. And with that experience, children see

that in order to make science, people do not need any special materials or any special places. Science is

everywhere and making science is not boring but fun!

The whole Project content is designed with a children centered approach based on participation. The

workshops provide children a learning environment for creativity, ability to discuss and research and a skill

for observation about the understanding ofnature of science which is a part ofscientific literacy.

Accordingly, the main objective of the project is to improve the scientific literacy level of its target groups(4th,5th and 6th grade primary school students and young community volunteers ) by providing space for them

to;


Principles of the workshops:

There are some principles of workshops related with Project aims and objectives.

All workshops will be done with a group size of 16-20 children. They will work in small groups of 4-5.

A calm and relaxing environment will support the learning process of both children and young scienceambassadors. The more they enjoy, the more they learn and share with each other.

Each child should actively participate in workshops. Energizers are used to raise the level of attention and motivation. For the safety of the children, while using hot water or scissors, young volunteers need to support

them.

Young science ambassadors are responsible for time management of the activities.


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PROJECT ACTIVITIES

It takes 2 days to implement the whole program in the primary schools for each group of 16-20 children.

Table 3: The 2 days program

Duration Activity

DAY 1

30 min Getting to know each otherScience Bingo

20 min Exp 1: Do flowers drink water?

15 min Break

40 min Exp 2: Let's make a thermometer!

15 min Break

40 min Exp 3: Colors dancing in the milk!

15 min Break

10 min Energizer: Molecules

20 min Exp 4: Screaming balloons

25 min Closing session: Groups poster

DAY 2

15 min Continue to Exp 1: Do flowers drink water?

5 min Grouping Activity: Colorful Dots

40 min Exp 5: Is black really black?

15 min Break

15 min Energizer: Solar System

40 min Exp 6: Homemade Ice cream

15 min Break

30 min Exp 7: The chemical of red cabbage


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10 min Crossword Puzzle

30 min

Closing session: Writing a letter

What kind of a scientist would I like to be?

What children think and share:


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AIMS AND OUTPUTS OF EXPERIMENTS

Exper iment 1:

Do F lowers Dri nk Water?

Bolu

Children use 3 cups of water mixed with food coloring and 1 cup of plain water. Then they set the flowers in

the cups and observe the change.

With this experiment, children can discover for themselves how essential the functions of roots and stems are

to plant growth. As the colored water is absorbed, students are able to see how the water is absorbed into the

plant and amazed when the petals of the carnation change color.1

The children observe how important water is for all living things. Human beings need to take precautions in

order to use water in an efficient way such as through the reuse of wastewater or getting drinkable water out

of oceans.

Exper iment 2:

Lets Make a Thermometer!

With this experiment, children are making a thermometer out of

water. They can measure temperature with this homemade

thermometer.

Water, like all substances, is comprised of molecules. In water, an

individual molecule has the chemical formula H2O, dihydrogen

monoxide. When water molecules are heated, their bonds stretch out

1http://www.stevespanglerscience.com/experiment/colorful-carnations


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and expand and the opposite happens when water is cooled. So, the water level in the straw rises when the

water is heated, it lowers when the water is cooled.2

The children learn how the global climate change affects life on earth and why it is a problem if the earths

temperature gets warmer. Then they also learn that they can fix climate change with some small changes intheir own lives such as turning the lights off, eating home food, getting their parents to change their

consuming habits and reusing, recycling and reducing buying something which they really do not need to.

Exper iment 3:

Colors Dancing in the M ilk!

With this experiment children uncover the secrets of

the soap which is a great demonstration of what

happens when we combine dish soap and milk. They

mix a little milk, food coloring, and a drop of liquid

soap.

Milk is mostly water but it also contains vitamins,

minerals, proteins, and tiny droplets of fat suspended

in solution. Fats and proteins are sensitive to changes

in the surrounding solution (the milk). The soap

weakens the chemical bonds that hold the proteins

and fats in solution. So the colors begin dancing in the milk.3

Children learn the importance and effect of soap on cleaning and why we people wash our hands with soap.

Exper iment 4:

Screaming Ball oons

Children put a hexagon nut in the balloon and hold it with both

hands and make a swirling motion. Then they have the screaming

voice.

The unique shape of the hex nut vibrates the walls of the balloon

to produce a wonderfully screaming sound. They try the same

process with the circular pellet. This time they do not get the

2http://www.stevespanglerscience.com/experiment/water-thermometer-sick-science

3 http://www.stevespanglerscience.com/experiment/milk-color-explosion

Scientific Literacy Training


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screaming sound as there is no vibration on the walls of the balloon. 4 With this experiment children observe

both the sound and motion.

Exper iment 5:

I s Black Really Bl ack?

Using a technique called chromatography, children find out exactly

what makes up the color in the black pen.

Theres literally a rainbow of color hiding in just one black dot!

Children put black dots on filter paper; put a toy brush in the very

center of the filter paper. Then lay down the paper on a plastic

glass full of water. The burst of color that you see on the filter

paper proves that black is really a combination of colors.

This technique of color separation is actually

called chromatography, which was originally used to separate

different plant pigments.5

Exper iment 6:

Homemade I ce-cream

4http://www.stevespanglerscience.com/product/screaming-balloon-kit

5

http://www.stevespanglerscience.com/experiment/is-black-black

Istanbul


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Children are making ice-cream with cream, sugar, crushed salt, vanilla and ice.

The science in making ice-cream is to lower the freezing point of ice in order to freeze the cream. But how?

Just like we use salt on icy roads in the winter, salt mixed with ice in this case also causes the ice to melt.

When salt comes into contact with ice, the freezing point of the ice is lowered. The lowering of the freezing

point depends on the amount of salt added. The more salt added, the lower the temperature will be before the

salt- water solution freezes.6

Exper iment 7:

The Chemical of Red Cabbage

Red Cabbage Jiffy Juice is an easy-to-use acid-base

indicator that measures pH. Children use Jiffy Juice to

make colorful solutions by adding common acids and

bases. It's an experiment that is safe and carefully

crafted from all food-grade material.

With this experiment children learn what is indicator,acid and bas and they are able to find out what really is

the most acidic or basic product in our world.7

DETERMINATION OF TOG VOLUNTEERS

The project implementing cities were determined with the assistance of TOG Field Department and in

coordination with Project Partner. An open call was made to TOG field and then field visits were realized by

the Project Coordinator and Project Assistant together with the Field Coordinators to volunteer groups in

Istanbul, Bolu, Edirne, Osmaniye, Kars and Ordu.

6http://www.stevespanglerscience.com/experiment/homemade-ice-cream-sick-science

7

http://www.stevespanglerscience.com/product/1552


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SCIENTIFIC LITERACY TRAINING

Scientific Literacy Training, the main training of the Project, took place in Silivri - Istanbul between Oct 30th

and Nov 4th

2012. This is the training which the volunteers need to participate in order to gain knowledge and

skills on scientific literacy and working with children before getting the Project started in their locality.

24 young TOG volunteers participated in the training from Istanbul, Bolu, Edirne, Ordu, Osmaniye and Kars.

The content of the training was composed of scientific literacy, working and communicating with children,

civil society in Turkey, volunteerism, meeting Project partner and the technical process of the Project.

Trainers were experts on the topics of scientific literacy, working with children, youth work and volunteerism.


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LOCAL DISSEMINATION TRAININGS

Kars

After the Scientific Literacy training, in order to expand the local project groups, the project team made local

dissemination trainings in each city.

The number of young volunteers participated in the trainings were as follow,

Bolu: 23

Edirne: 13

stanbul: 11

Ordu: 22

Osmaniye: 25

Kars: 12


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PROJECT TRAINING FOR BAYER EMPLOYEES

On the 12th

of February, the scientific literacy training was organized for Bayer Employees in Bayer head

office. The program of the training was developed by project consultant and facilitated by project coordinator,

project assistant and project consultant.

This training was a compressed version of the scientific literacy training in order to gain knowledge and skills

to Bayer employees before volunteering in the Project.

30 Bayer employees from different cities participated in the training which took a whole day. Those 30

volunteers became Science Ambassadors and started to volunteer for the project in one of the primary school

named ehit retmen Ahmet Onay lkretim Okulu.

Bayer employees volunteered in the project by going the school and working with many children. They also

became a project group of BYSA in the field.

BAYER as a partner and BYSA as a social responsibility project is a very special and a good example for

Corporate Social Responsibility Projects in Turkey not only by funding but also employees participating in.


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SCIENCE WORKSHOP FOR BAYER EMPLOYEES CHILDREN

On April 27th,

a science workshop was done with approximately 36 children.

The workshop program was designed according to the age of children. The activities were done by the young

science ambassadors with children throughout the day.

The program content was designed by the project consultant. With the support of 5 young science

ambassadors, the workshop was completed.

As the pilot year of the project, this was not just a different and valuable experience for the children

participated in the workshops, but also for the young science ambassadors volunteering in the project. Young

science ambassadors came from different project implementing cities and this was a motivation also for them.


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FIELD VISITS

Visits with project partner

Field visits to different project groups were done with the project partner Bayer during the whole project

period.

Project groups were visited while implementing the project in primary school with the local and national

media representatives.

Visits with project experts

Field visits to all project groups were done by the project team.

These visits are very important and necessary to improve the impact of the project and support the young

volunteers about the difficulties they have while facilitating the activities in the project. In every city, young

science ambassadors were visited in primary schools and then local evaluation meetings were done in order to

support them in the process.


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EXCHANGE BETWEEN SCIENCE AMBASSADORS

The evaluation report of the pilot year recommended young science ambassadors visit to each other. In the

second year, one science ambassador from each project group visited another one. They had the opportunity to

experience what the other have been implementing as well as providing their expertise also.

Those visits created a network in which young people are a part of greater thing than their localities and

multiplied crucial experience and knowledge within the network as well as providing mobility opportunitiesfor young people for intercultural learning


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BEST PRACTICES IN EDUCATION CONFERENCE

Bayer Young Science Ambassadors Project was selected to be presented in Best Practices Education

Conference that is hold by Education Reform Initiative.

The conference is organized once in every year and hosts hundreds of teachers, directors of schools and

representatives from Directorates and Ministry of Education in Turkey. For BYSA, after the pilot year, this

presentation is an indicator of its success and impact in primary schools by young university students.


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BYSA WORKSHOP ON BAYER 150TH

ANNIVERSARY EXHIBITION

A science workshop was made by the young science ambassadors in the scope of Bayer 150th Anniversary

Exhibition.

The workshop was held for 3 days on 25th -26th and 27th June. 9 young science ambassadors attended the

workshop from different local project groups. At the end of three days, these 9 young science ambassadors

worked with 155 children and the workshop reached its goal. The interest of the visitors to the workshop was

very intense during the exhibition.


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BYSA on MEDIA

During the second year, BYSA Project took place on several national and local mass media resources

including printed and online media.

Below, links and some examples of news can be found about BYSA.

Links:

http://www.antoloji.com/haber/haber.asp?haber=11678

http://www.hurriyet.com.tr/yazarlar/22312227.asp

http://www.aksam.com.tr/bayerin-elcileri,-9-bin-ogrenciyi-bilimsel-okuryazar-yapacak--140334h.html

http://www.orduajans.com/guncel/bayer-genc-bilim-elcileri-orduda-cocuklarla-bulusuyor-h1104.html

http://www.edirneajans.com/genc-bilim-elcileri.html

http://www.edirneajans.com/bayer-genc-bilim-elcileri-edirnede-cocuklarla-bulusuyor.html/2-8

http://www.orduyorum.com/guncel/haberdetay.php?id=4652

http://www.medical-tribune.com.tr/node/4007

http://www.hudutgazetesi.com/haber/11065/genc-bilimciler-50nci-yilda.html

http://www.bolutakip.com/haber.asp?Kimlik=12077

http://www.osmaniye.edu.tr/detay.aspx?haber_id=1082
http://www.antoloji.com/haber/haber.asp?haber=11678http://www.antoloji.com/haber/haber.asp?haber=11678http://www.hurriyet.com.tr/yazarlar/22312227.asphttp://www.hurriyet.com.tr/yazarlar/22312227.asphttp://www.aksam.com.tr/bayerin-elcileri,-9-bin-ogrenciyi-bilimsel-okuryazar-yapacak--140334h.htmlhttp://www.aksam.com.tr/bayerin-elcileri,-9-bin-ogrenciyi-bilimsel-okuryazar-yapacak--140334h.htmlhttp://www.orduajans.com/guncel/bayer-genc-bilim-elcileri-orduda-cocuklarla-bulusuyor-h1104.htmlhttp://www.orduajans.com/guncel/bayer-genc-bilim-elcileri-orduda-cocuklarla-bulusuyor-h1104.htmlhttp://www.edirneajans.com/genc-bilim-elcileri.htmlhttp://www.edirneajans.com/genc-bilim-elcileri.htmlhttp://www.edirneajans.com/bayer-genc-bilim-elcileri-edirnede-cocuklarla-bulusuyor.html/2-8http://www.edirneajans.com/bayer-genc-bilim-elcileri-edirnede-cocuklarla-bulusuyor.html/2-8http://www.orduyorum.com/guncel/haberdetay.php?id=4652http://www.orduyorum.com/guncel/haberdetay.php?id=4652http://www.medical-tribune.com.tr/node/4007http://www.medical-tribune.com.tr/node/4007http://www.hudutgazetesi.com/haber/11065/genc-bilimciler-50nci-yilda.htmlhttp://www.hudutgazetesi.com/haber/11065/genc-bilimciler-50nci-yilda.htmlhttp://www.bolutakip.com/haber.asp?Kimlik=12077http://www.bolutakip.com/haber.asp?Kimlik=12077http://www.osmaniye.edu.tr/detay.aspx?haber_id=1082http://www.osmaniye.edu.tr/detay.aspx?haber_id=1082http://www.osmaniye.edu.tr/detay.aspx?haber_id=1082http://www.bolutakip.com/haber.asp?Kimlik=12077http://www.hudutgazetesi.com/haber/11065/genc-bilimciler-50nci-yilda.htmlhttp://www.medical-tribune.com.tr/node/4007http://www.orduyorum.com/guncel/haberdetay.php?id=4652http://www.edirneajans.com/bayer-genc-bilim-elcileri-edirnede-cocuklarla-bulusuyor.html/2-8http://www.edirneajans.com/genc-bilim-elcileri.htmlhttp://www.orduajans.com/guncel/bayer-genc-bilim-elcileri-orduda-cocuklarla-bulusuyor-h1104.htmlhttp://www.aksam.com.tr/bayerin-elcileri,-9-bin-ogrenciyi-bilimsel-okuryazar-yapacak--140334h.htmlhttp://www.hurriyet.com.tr/yazarlar/22312227.asphttp://www.antoloji.com/haber/haber.asp?haber=11678


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Sabah _2012.11.30


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Mir Kuzey Ordu_ 2013.03.21


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Edirne Ajans_2013.04.03


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IHA_2013.04.03


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Literatr Aktel_2013.03.01


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Bolu Takip_2013.02.26


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PROJECT TEAM

Nisan Su Tablac,Project Assistant:Responsible for coordinating the local project groups and activities and

managing the social media tools of the project.

zge Snmez, Project Coordinator: Responsible for coordinating the whole Project team and Project

activities such as budgeting, coordinating local groups, reporting and sustainability.

Emel Uysal, Project Consultant: Responsible for the content of the Project.

Erhan Okak, Project Monitoring and Evaluating Expert: Responsible for monitoring and evaluating the

impact of the Project.

Jlide Erdoan, Head of Project Department: Responsible for supervising the Project Coordinator and

sustainability of the project.


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LINKS

Bayer Young Science Ambassadors

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Bayer-Gen%C3%A7-Bilim-El%C3%A7ileri/227630993982853

Bayer Turk

http://www.bayer.com.tr

Toplum Gnllleri Vakf (Community Volunteers Foundation) - TOG

http://www.tog.org.tr
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Bayer-Gen%C3%A7-Bilim-El%C3%A7ileri/227630993982853http://www.facebook.com/pages/Bayer-Gen%C3%A7-Bilim-El%C3%A7ileri/227630993982853http://www.bayer.com.tr/http://www.bayer.com.tr/http://www.tog.org.tr/http://www.tog.org.tr/http://www.tog.org.tr/http://www.bayer.com.tr/http://www.facebook.com/pages/Bayer-Gen%C3%A7-Bilim-El%C3%A7ileri/227630993982853


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BAYER YOUNG SCIENCE

AMBASSADORS

FINAL EVALUATION REPORT

JUNE 2012JUNE 2013

Erhan Okak

Monitoring&Evaluation ExpertPsychologist, MA


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Contents

Executive Summary................................................................................................................................... 34

Abbreviations............................................................................................................................................. 37

Introduction ....................................................................................................................................................... 38

Aims and Scope of the Project................................................................................................................... 38

Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) Plan and Data Collection Instruments............................................... 38

Summative Evaluation....................................................................................................................................... 39

Scientific Literacy Training (SLT) ............................................................................................................ 39

Aims and Objectives .......................................................................................................................... 39

Setting and Demographics ................................................................................................................. 40

Methodology and Assessment Tools ................................................................................................. 41

Results................................................................................................................................................ 42

Conclusions and Recommendations .................................................................................................. 46

Workshops................................................................................................................................................. 49

Exchange of Experiences ................................................................................................................... 49

Field Visits ......................................................................................................................................... 52

Exchange Visits Among Science Ambassadors (Facilitators) ........................................................... 52

Letters and Posters ............................................................................................................................. 52

Conclusions and Recommendations.................................................................................................................. 56

ANNEX -1......................................................................................................................................................... 59

ANNEX - 2........................................................................................................................................................ 65

ANNEX3 ....................................................................................................................................................... 69

ANNEX4....................................................................................................................................................... 71

ANNEX5 ....................................................................................................................................................... 73


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Executive Summary

The main purposes of the evaluation process were to assess the effectiveness of the Bayer Young ScienceAmbassadors Project (BYSAP) in terms of its aims and objectives; and to provide relevant information toimprove the implementation process of it. Both quantitative and qualitative research methods were employedin this evaluation. An additional purpose of this report was to present the evaluation plan and data collectioninstruments.

The main objective of BYSAP is to improve the scientific literacy level of its target groups (4th, 5th and 6thgrade primary school students and young community volunteers ) by providing a learning environment forthem to;

Get motivated to learn about and understand the nature, Have curiosity about science and technology, Try to understand the interrelations between science, technology, society and environment, Get willing to question, reason and understand the happenings and facts in nature, Question their prejudices about science and scientists, Understand and appreciate the value of science and technology.

Two major activities were developed and implemented to reach these objectives; Scientific Literacy Training(SLT) and Science Workshops for Children. As a result of their participation in SLT, young volunteers (youngscience ambassadors) became the facilitators and implemented the workshops in six pilot cities.

Between June 2012 and June 2013,

Project Content and booklets for young science ambassadors and for children were revised by theproject consultant with the recommendations of pilot years evaluation report.

Tools for monitoring and evaluation of the project were revised by the external expert. 24 Young TOG volunteers participated in the Scientific Literacy Training that took place in Istanbul. Local Dissemination Trainings were held in each project implementing city in order to share the

knowledge and experiences with the new volunteers in order to expand the project team and reach

more primary school children.

In total, 175 young science ambassadors (target was 36) reached 1582 children (target was 1350),in 13 schools (target was 6), at the end of June 2013.

Training forBayer employees was designed and carried out with a participation of30 employees. A Science Workshop was carried out for Bayer employees children where approximately 36

children participated in. Field visits to local project groups were done by TOG, Bayer Turkey and media representatives. As a new tool, exchange between each local project teams supported young science ambassadors to

share knowledge and have see each others practices in order to improve their ability. BYSA Project was presented in Best Practices Education Conference that is hold by Education

Reform Initiative.

A science workshop was made by the young science ambassadors to 155 children in the scope ofBayer 150th Anniversary Exhibition.

A combination of different methods, including questionnaires and evaluation forms, direct field visits,observation, evaluation workshops and a two-day project evaluation meeting were used. The following is a

summary of the findings and the main conclusions by the evaluator.


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24 young science ambassadors (aged between 17 - 25);

Understood the developmental characteristics of children more, paying regard to individualdifferences;

Did case studies on communication with children and improved their communication skills;such as giving effective instructions, using "positive expression", using reward andreinforcement techniques, using open and closed ended questions.

Did case studies on classroom management and improved their knowledge on variousmethods for managing undesirable behavior of children during the workshops;

Acquired basics of children centered approach, which promotes the right of the children tochoose, make connections and communicate; and also allows freedom for the children to

think, experience, explore, question and search for answers.

Need time and practice to better improve newly acquired knowledge and skills oncommunicating with children and classroom management, especially in cases of conflicts.

Had a greater understanding of what it requires to be a team and gained basic skills andattitude to form a team and maintain its functions.

Learned the objectives and implementation phases of experiments sufficiently. Learned about the characteristics of scientific knowledge. Reflected on their prejudices on scientific knowledge and practice. Also, the opinions that changed with the effect of the training provided evidence for the

improvement of participants view of science. Learned basic concepts of volunteerism and relations among them, and could debate on

volunteerism being aware of what they meant.

Got to know TOG, and its principles better than they did before.Revision and restructuring of the sessions on Working with Children, adding sessions on Teamwork,

Feedback and Case Studies strengthened the impact of the training.

In addition, in order to expand the local project groups and provide opportunity for all the volunteers toreceive training the project team

175 young science ambassadors and 1582 children joined the project between June 2012 June 2013 in sixcities.

Children (aged between 10 - 12) who participated in the workshops;

Had fun doing experiments and playing games. Got excited and motivated about doing experiments and becoming scientist. Got more curious. Had increased interest in science. Were able to express their creativity. Learned something new through the workshop (They recalled and depicted almost all of the

experiments they did during the workshop on posters).

And also,

Their perception of science began to chance in the desired direction. They began to likescience more and see the fun in it. Science became something accessible for them.

They began to think everyone can be a scientist including themselves.Trying to understand the interrelations between science, technology, society and environment, questioningtheir own prejudices about science and scientists, and understanding and appreciating the value of science and


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technology were seemed as difficult-to-reach objectives for these workshops so far, considering their duration

and context. Nevertheless, the results suggest that the childrens perception of science and scientists have

begun to change obviously.

According to the SLT and workshop results, it is clear that vast majority of project objectives were achieved

in the second year of the project.. However, there are still opportunities to improve results. Keyrecommendations were as follows.

For SLT (Scientific Literacy Training)

Creating an additional space in the program where the participants can experience what theyhave learned in the communication session.

Not to allow single trainer to facilitate almost the whole day. Considering which trainings the participants had before SLT during admission period. Assigning another role for the participants who didnt participate in the SLT but volunteered

the previous year, since they can get distracted and indifferent in the training.

For Workshops and Facilitation

Paying particular attention to the debriefing questions. Studying the Facilitators Booklet more carefully. Making preparation meetings before the workshops, sharing roles and tasks more accurately

in order not to have problems about materials and team size.

Making evaluation after the workshops and giving feedback to each other. Changing the major facilitator/instructor for each experiment. Preparing a little bit more material than the number of the children. If possible, doing the experiments yourself before the workshops. Creating improvised energizers or games with the children if they find it boring or

uninteresting.

General Recommendations

Keeping up doing the exchange visits for young volunteers to interact and learn from eachother.

Organizing periodic meetings to support young volunteers specifically in terms of workingwith children and/or providing supervision.

Organizing social events and activities which will enhance volunteer motivation. Providing a pool of experiments considering levels of different grade students. Providing more detailed information about the project on the letter of parental permission so

that more children may participate in the workshops.

The evaluation results showed that BYSAP was planned and implemented in a way that led to (1) an increasedcuriosity and interest in science; scientific knowledge and practice, (2) significant change in perception ofscience, scientific practice and scientists in its target groups.


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Abbreviations

BYSAP Bayer Young Science Ambassadors Project

SLT Scientific Literacy Training

EEF Exchange of Experiences Form

CVF - TOG Community Volunteers Foundation

EQ1 Evaluation Questionnaire1

EQ2 Evaluation Questionnaire2

PLL Perceived Levels of Learning


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Introduction

There are two main objectives of this report. One is to present the evaluation plan in relation with the project,particularly its aims and scope .The other is to make a summative evaluation to determine the impact of theproject so that future efforts may be improved or modified.

Aims and Scope of the Project

The overall aim of the Bayer Young Science Ambassadors-Scientific Literacy Project (BYSAP) is;

Supporting the science education

Supporting the children and their learning process at primary schools (aged between 10-12)

by creating the scientific literacy amongst Young Community Volunteers (aged between 17-25).

Accordingly, the main objective of the project is to improve the scientific literacy level of its target groups(4

th, 5

thand 6

thgrade primary school students and young community volunteers ) by providing space for them

to;

Get motivated to learn about and understand the nature, Have curiosity about science and technology, Try to understand the interrelations among science, technology, society and environment,

Get willing to question, reason and understand the happenings and facts in nature Question their prejudices about science and scientists Understand and appreciate the value of science and technology.

For the purpose of reaching these objectives two major interrelated activities were developed for the project.First was the Scientific Literacy Training (SLT). This non-formal training course was designed for the youngvolunteers, who participated from 6 different TOG Youth Organizations, focusing on attitudes towardschildren, scientific literacy, voluntary work, team work and facilitation skills. Second were the Workshopsdeveloped to provide children a learning environment for expressing their creativity and curiosity, gaining

ability to discuss and research by experiencing enjoyable experiments. The workshops were facilitated by theyoung volunteers; the participants of SLT.

In addition, the expected outcomes of the project were as follows:

A revised non-formal training module on scientific literacy (SLT) 36 young community volunteers as the Science Ambassadors 1350 scientific literate children in 6 primary schools (workshop participants)

Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) Plan and Data Collection Instruments

The evaluation plan of theBYSAP was designed to assess the objectives and the project activities mentionedabove.

The activities and the process of the BYSAP were studied focusing on two major areas and the interception ofboth.


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Evaluation of the Scientific Literacy Training and its effects on its participants (youngcommunity volunteers).

Monitoring and Evaluation of the two-day workshops (basically consisted of experiments)facilitated by the SLT participants in the primary schools with children.

Observations by the evaluator during the training, preparation and evaluation meetings with the training team

and two evaluation questionnaires developed specifically for the training were the data collection instrumentsfor the SLT. Furthermore, two other instruments were designed in order to assess the effects of the SLTfocusing on the implementation process of the workshops. These were the semi-structured evaluation

meetings with the facilitators and Exchange of Experiences Form (EEF) (by which the facilitators share theirexperiences with each other, the project coordinator and the evaluator).

Four basic instruments were designed for the assessment of the workshops and its effects on the primaryschool students (aged between 10-12).

A.Monthly Activity Reports: The technical reports, including information such as the number ofthe workshops organized, number of the children participated in these workshops, number ofthe facilitators, etc. and which were prepared monthly by the facilitator groups. These reports

were being collected by the project coordinator and used for the technical report of the

project.

B.Exchange of Experiences Form for the Facilitators: The forms by which the facilitators sharetheir own experience and reflections on the workshops; program, teamwork, children,

technicalities, etc. and suggestions for further workshops.

C.Posters: Posters designed by the children at the end of the first day of the workshops.D.Letters: The letters written by the children at the end of the second day of the workshops as

an answer to the theme question What kind of a scientist do I want to be?; depicting theirimage of the scientist. 8

Summative Evaluation

In this section, results based on the data collected during the project will be presented; including the SLTevaluation, analysis of the EEFs, posters and letters.

Scientific Literacy Training (SLT)

Aims and Objectives

The SLT basically aimed at enabling participants to reflect on their understanding of science, scientificknowledge, scientific practices and to develop curiosity about science; and also developing participantscompetencies necessary for facilitating the workshops they implemented during the project with children.

In addition, considering the evaluation results of the previous years SLT, this year certain changes were madein the SLT program. Sessions on Communication with Children were reviewed and enriched by addingeffective classroom management strategies and practices. Two sessions focusing on Teamwork, Feedback

8All of the instruments are detailed in the relevant sections of this report.


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and Case Examples were added to the program. By these revised and newly added sessions it was aimed toimprove participants facilitation and communication skills they would need during the workshops.

Therefore, the SLT was specifically designed to provide a learning environment for the participants,

To learn about the characteristics of scientific knowledge,

To reflect on their prejudices on scientific knowledge and research, To enable them to reconstruct their mental representations of scientists and scientific studies, To get willing to question, reason and understand the happenings and facts in nature, To experience the activities (experiments) of the workshops that they would facilitate in the

primary schools,

To understand the objectives of the workshop activities, To gain knowledge about the implementation steps of the workshop activities, To get familiar with the Facilitators Booklet they would use during the project, To understand the developmental characteristics of children, To do case studies on communication with children, and improve their communication skills, To acquire children centered approach, which promotes the right of the children to choose,

make connections and communicate; and also allows freedom for the children to think,

experience, explore, question and search for answers.

In addition to the aforementioned objectives, there were two other major themes included in the training forenabling the participants to understand the conceptual framework, and the setting that the voluntary workneeded during the project stands on. First was the concept of volunteerism. And the second was CommunityVolunteers Foundation (CVF) itself; its aims, principles, organizational structure, activities, projects and theopportunities it offers to young volunteers. The specific objectives related to these themes were included inthe training evaluation as well.

Setting and Demographics

The Scientific Literacy Training took place on 30th

October to 4th

November 2012, in Istanbul with theparticipation of 24 young volunteers from 6 different CVF Youth Organizations, training team includingproject consultant, project coordinator and the evaluator.

Representatives of Bayer Turkey visited the training to give information about Bayer, particularly itscorporate social responsibility strategy and explain where the BYSAP stands in this strategy. They also sharedtheir expectations from the project and the young volunteers.

The training is developed and implemented by 5 trainers who are experienced in volunteering, civil society,

human rights, cohabitation, scientific literacy, working with children, classroom management, non-formal training and experiential learning methodology. Two preparatory meetings were held prior to thetraining by the training team.

The evaluator participated in the preparatory meetings to observe and work with the training team for the

specific objectives of the training and the sessions. He also fully participated in the training to makeobservations, to apply the evaluation forms, to facilitate the Evaluation Session at the end of the program andto take part in the daily and final evaluation meetings with the training team.

24 young volunteers participated in the training of which 67% were women and 33% were men. The mean ageof the participants was 20,38 1,43. The youngest participant was 18 years old, and the oldest was 23 yearsold.


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None of the participants had a Scientific Literacy training before but 22,7% of them reported that they had atraining with the theme Working with Children before this training.

The participants reported 12 different fields of study as their majors and 57% of them were majored inphysical sciences.

Methodology and Assessment Tools

The evaluator got involved at every stage of the training process, from the beginning (program design) to theend (post-training evaluation meeting), to make a multi-directional and meaningful assessment. A variety ofdata collection methods (quantitative and qualitative) were used in order to minimize the weakness of anysingle approach. With this intention, both the data gathered from the participants and feedback from thetrainers had been used for assessment.

The evaluation plan for the training involves the assessment of the significant changes in participants in termsof knowledge, skills and opinions specific to the training objectives; observation of the sessions and

participant observations of the evaluation meetings the trainers held at the end of each day (see Figure1).

Figure1: Evaluation Plan for SLT

Evaluation Questionnaire1: The SLT Evaluation Questionnaire1 (EQ1, see Annex -1) was revised tomeasure changes in knowledge, skills and opinions of the participants quantitatively, by the evaluator with thecontribution of the training team. The EQ 1 had 69 items based on the specific objectives of the training

sessions. The participants were required to respond to the items on a ten point Likert scale from Dont knowat all/Cant do at all/Strongly disagree to Know completely/Can do completely/Strongly agree (see Annex1). The questionnaire was applied twice, once at the beginning and once at the end of the training as pre-test and post-test. Participants were asked to fill in the column A during pre -test and columns B and Cduring post-test (representing pre-test, revised pre-test and post-test scores respectively). For the column Cparticipants reassessed their pre-test scores after the training.

Evaluation Questionnaire2: The SLT Evaluation Questionnaire2 (EQ2, see Annex - 2) was basically areactionnaire form which was developed to get feedback from the participants about overall structure andthemes covered in the training, the trainers, technical conditions, etc. It also included open ended questionsrelated with the aims of the training and some Likert scale items which could only be assessed after thetraining. Besides providing qualitative data for the evaluator EQ 2 served the team of trainers during the

final evaluation meeting as a tool for evaluating the training.

Day 4

Pre-test

Daily evaluationsessions (with

participants) Post-test

Beginning of the

training

End of the

training

Final Evaluation

Meeting (with

trainers,coordinator and

consultant

Day 1 Day 3 Day 5

Daily evaluationmeetings (with

trainers)Program

Design

Day 2 Day 6

EVALUATION PLAN


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Daily Evaluation Sessions (with participants): These were the sessions where the participants shared theirexperiences about the program, expressed their feelings, heard how others had experienced that same part ofthe program and came up with suggestions and ideas to improve the program. These sessions also providedthe team of trainers an effective means for staying in touch with the way the group of participants developedand identifying any problems and challenges that needed intervention.

Daily Evaluation Meetings (with trainers): The meetings trainers held at the end of each day where theyevaluated the sessions, participants reactions, the training team and make modifications on the program ifnecessary. The evaluator participated in these meetings mostly as an observer and made suggestions if needed.

Final Evaluation Meeting (with trainers, coordinator and consultant): Meeting held with the participation oftrainers, coordinator, consultant and evaluator shortly after the training where overall structure and elementsof the training program were evaluated and necessary future modifications were discussed.

Results

In this section, findings derived from the EQ -1 and EQ 2 will be presented, respectively (2 of theparticipants EQ-1 were excluded since they were not completed as needed).

In Graphic1 pre-test (A), revised pre-test (B) and post-test (C) scores of the participants were presented.One-way Repeated Measures ANOVA was conducted to compare the A, B, C scores. The results indicatedthat there was a statistically significant difference across these three scores. Wilks Lambda = .25, F(2,20),p < .001. The means and standard deviations were presented in Table1. In other words, generally speaking,the training had the desired effect on the participants in terms of its objectives.

Graphic1: EQ-1 mean scores for participants

In addition, in Graphic2, mean scores for each item were demonstrated.

Graphic2: Mean scores for EQ1 items


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Table1: Descriptive Statistics for Pre-test, Revised Pre-test and Post-test Scores

Mean Std. Deviation N

Pre-test 7,190 ,177 22

Revised Pre-test 5,670 ,326 22

Post-test 8,575 ,148 22

Moreover, Bonferroni Post Hoc Test revealed that there was statistically significantly difference amongpre-test, revised pre-test and post-test scores. The results were shown in Table2.

Table2: Descriptive Statistics for Pre-test, Revised Pre-test and Post-test Scores

(I) factor1 Mean

Difference

(I-J)

Std.

Error

Sig.b 95% Confidence

Interval for

Differenceb

Lower

Bound

Upper

BoundPre-test R. Pre-test 1,520* ,231 ,000 ,919 2,121

Post-test -1,385* ,206 ,000 -1,920 -,850

R. Pre-test Pre-test -1,520* ,231 ,000 -2,121 -,919

Post-test -2,905* ,368 ,000 -3,862 -1,949

Post-test Pre-test 1,385* ,206 ,000 ,850 1,920

R. Pre-test 2,905* ,368 ,000 1,949 3,862

Based on estimated marginal means

*. The mean difference is significant at the ,05 level.

b. Adjustment for multiple comparisons: Bonferroni.

R.pre-test: Revised pre-test

Given that there was significant difference between pre-test and revised pre-test scores, in the following phaseof analysis Wilcoxon Matched Pairs Signed Ranks Test was conducted to assess the difference betweenrevised pre-test and post-test scores, for each item of EQ-1. The results were shown in Table3, on the nextpage.


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Table3: Mean scores for revised pre-test and post-test, and p values for Wilcoxon tests, EQ-1

*The mean difference is significant at the 0,05 level

Items 8, 16, 29, 33, 41, 48, 56, 58, 62, 67 were reverse-coded

No Itemsrevised

pre-testpost-test

p deerleri

*1 I know what the children may expect form me as a facilitator. 4,68 9,00 ,000

*2 I know the aims of TOG. 5,64 9,32 ,000

*3 I know the required factors to be a team. 5,95 9,18 ,000

*4 Volunteerism has diverse definitions. 6,59 8,95 ,001

*5 I can solve a presenting problem while working with children. 5,95 8,86 ,000

*6 I know the function of feedback. 5,18 9,27 ,000

*7

I know how "open-ended" and "closed-ended" questions may affect children's self

ex pressi ons. 4,86 9,59

,000

8 Scientific methods provide absolute proofs. 4,24 4,57 ,979

*9 I know the mechanisms for parti cipati ng i n deci si on maki ng processe s i n TOG. 4,95 8,64 ,000

*10 Each member has a role both in the success and failure of e team. 7,50 9,27 ,003

*11 Volunteerism is a way of civic participation. 7,59 9,23 ,001

*12 I know the developmental characteristics of children aged between 11-14. 5,91 9,05 ,000

*13 I know how to use reward and reinforcement as I work with children. 5,27 8,64 ,000

*14 I can receive feedback from my team mates. 5,91 9,32 ,000

*15 I know hot to give effective instructions during the workshops. 4,45 8,68 ,000

*16 Only highly educated scientists understand science. 6,91 8,00 ,021

*17 I can work with people with any kind of character in a team. 6,73 8,36 ,003

*18 I can focus children's attention to a specific issue during the workshops. 5,77 8,77 ,000

*19 I know how TOG functions. 5,41 8,91 ,000

*20 I know the difference among volunteerism, helpfulness and charity. 5,27 8,91 ,000

*21 It can be fun to work in a science lab. 6,18 8,32 ,001

*22 I can manage an approach appropriate to the children's developmental characteristics. 5,64 9,05 ,000*23 I can give effective instructions during the workshops. 4,59 8,95 ,000

*24 I know the principles of TOG. 4,91 9,00 ,000

*25 Becoming a team requires endurance (persistence, effort, consistancy) 7,23 9,27 ,001

*26 I may not make big discoveries but studying science can be fun. 7,18 8,73 ,001

*27 I can specify the source of a problem during the workshops. 5,64 8,73 ,000

*28 I can change my mind for the sake of team's success. 6,05 8,41 ,001

29 There is no imagination in science. 6,59 7,14 ,392

*30 I can inform people about TOG's aims. 5,23 9,05 ,000

*31 I know what active participation means. 6,14 9,14 ,000

*32 Every child is different than the other. 8,59 9,41 ,041

33 Scientific methods can answer all the questions. 5,45 6,14 ,379

*34

I know various methods for managing undesirable behavior of children during the

workshops. 4,55 8,82

,000

*35 I can empathize with children during the workshops. 6,09 8,77 ,000

*36 I can give feedback to my team mates. 5,36 9,09 ,000

*37 I know what "positive expression" in communication refers to. 5,27 9,14 ,001

*38I know what kind of opportunities TOG provides for young people (e.g. scholarships,counseling, internship, EVS, etc.). 5,68 9,23

,000

*39 I can debate on volunteerism being aware of what I mean. 5,50 9,05 ,000

*40 Every single child develops with his/her distinctive developmental phase . 8,00 9,55 ,002

41 Electronic devices are indeed the examples of valuable products of science 4,05 3,45 ,263

*42 I can noti ce th e n egati ve expre ss io ns I make as I am commu ni cat ing wi th chi ld re n. 5, 32 8, 95 ,000

*43 Most people can understand science . 6,27 8,45 ,001

*44 I know about the activities of TOG. 5,55 9,00 ,000

*45 I can cre ate a l earni ng e nv iron me nt w hi ch su its the ne eds of ch il dre n I w ork wi th . 5, 27 9, 05 ,000

*46 I know how to give feedback. 4,59 9,05 ,000

*47 I can differentiate between open and closed ended questions. 4,77 9,59 ,000

*48 Scientists do not have enough time for their families or for fun. 5,64 8,41 ,001

*49 I can inform people about how TOG functions. 5,27 9,18 ,000

*50 I can differentiate the expressions of "I" languge and "You" language. 5,41 9,41 ,000

51 Scientific knowledge includes subjectivity. 4,45 4,77 ,743

*52 I know the risks of appreciation, honoring, reinforcement methods. 4,82 9,00 ,000

*53 I can inform people about the principles of TOG. 5,09 8,86 ,000

*54 I know the impact of active participation. 5,82 9,23 ,000

*55 I know what "Disapproval Expression" refers to. 5,09 9,05 ,000

56 Scienti fic study is boring. 6,36 7,59 ,120

*57 Disagreements within the team provides the team with opportunities for success. 5,57 6,91 ,012

58 There is no cultural diversity in scientific knowledge. 5,48 5,81 ,439

*59 Each child has different abilities and aptitudes. 8,64 9,59 ,007

*60 I know how to get feedback. 5,14 8,95 ,000

*61 I can use the "I language" effectively in conversation. 4,73 8,91 ,000

*62 It might be very difficult for me to do scientific studies. 5,82 7,55 ,011

*63 I can inform people about TOG's activities. 4,95 9,05 ,000

*64

I can create an environment in which the children can easily share their thoughts and

feelings. 5,41 9,05

,000

*65 Imagination and creativity are important in the formation of scientific knowledge. 7,09 9,00 ,001

*66 I know how to act if any problems occurs during the workshops with children. 5,23 8,95 ,000

*67 Scientists have to work very hard. 5,32 7,36 ,003

*68

I can decide when to use appreciation, honoring, reinforcemen t methods during the

workshops. 4,77 8,55

,000

*69 I have the skills necessary for facilitating the workshops . 4,86 9,05 ,000


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The Wilcoxon Test revealed statistically significant increase in post-test scores except items 8, 29, 33, 41, 51,56 and 58. These results will be discussed in the next section.

In Graphics 3 and 4 participants Perceived Levels of Learning (PLL) were presented. In the EQ-2, the

participants were required to asses to what extent they thought they had learned from each session of the

training course on a five point Likert scale from 1: Learned nothing to 5: Learned a lot. Perceived Levelsof Learning refers to the mean scores of these self-assessments.

Graphic3: Participants Perceived Levels of Learning

The overall PLL mean score was 4,53 out of 5. Minimum score was 2,63 and maximum score was 5,00. Theseresults clearly indicated that the participants thought that they had learned a lot in the training.

Graphic - 4: Perceived Levels of Learning for Sessions

Minimum PLL mean for sessions was 4,04 (Child and Child Development) and maximum mean was 4,96(Colors Dancing in the Milk experiment).

Mean scores for the technical conditions of the training according to the participants were as follows

Graphic - 5: Technical Conditions


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Participants overall mean score for technical conditions is 4,08. This score indicated that the technicalconditions were well enough according to the participants.

In Graphic6, the mean scores for the items that could not be assessed prior to the training were presented.These items were used additionally to assess to what extent the participants thought they could facilitate theworkshops with children.

Graphic - 6: Mean Scores for the Post-Training Items

Conclusions and Recommendations

There were three main objectives of the Scientific Literacy Training. First was enabling participants to reflecton their understanding of science, scientific knowledge, scientific practices and to develop curiosity aboutscience. The other two, both acquisition of children centered approach and experiencing the experiments andtheir implementation procedures, were about developing participants competencies necessary for facilitatingthe workshops they would implement with children during the project.

The results presented in the previous section indicated that the training had reached its overall objectives. In

addition, evaluating the specific learning objectives of training in detail provided opportunities both tounderstand the extent to which the training created a change in participants in terms of its expected outcomesand make suggestions for the following SLTs.

In line with the objectives, the training had three main themes, namely Scientific Literacy, Working withChildren and Experiments. In this years SLT, sessions associated with Working with Children wererevised and improved in line with previous years suggestions. Communication with Children, In the Eyesof the Children? and Classroom Management were the sub -themes of Working with Children.Volunteerism, CVF and its principles were additional training themes. Discussions of the objectives werecategorized under these headings.

All the items under Communication with Children, In the Eyes of the Children? and Classroom

Management showed statistically significant difference (see Table 3 above). These results suggested thatparticipants had gained knowledge about; acquired skills and attitudes necessary for working with children. Inother words, participants;

understood the developmental characteristics of children more, paying regard to individualdifferences;

did case studies on communication with children and improved their communication skills; suchas giving effective instructions, using "positive expression", using reward and reinforcement

techniques, using open and closed ended questions.

did case studies on classroom management and improved their knowledge on various methodsfor managing undesirable behavior of children during the workshops;

acquired basics of children centered approach, which promotes the right of the children tochoose, make connections and communicate; and also allows freedom for the children to think,

experience, explore, question and search for answers.


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Also, our observations on the field and the outputs of EEFs suggested that facilitators needed time andpractice to better improve these newly acquired knowledge and skills on communicating with children andclassroom management, especially in cases of conflicts.

Since facilitators need for knowledge and skills on teamwork and communication with each other wereidentified in the last years evaluation sessions on Teamwork and Feedback were designed and includedin this years SLT. All the items on these topics indicated statistically significant differences. The participantshad a greater understanding of what it requires to be a team and gained basic skills and attitude to form ateam and maintain its functions.

Again, all three items under Workshop Activities (Experiments) were found statistically significant.Moreover, items in the EQ2 related with the experiments and facilitation of them (see Graphic6, page 8)were scored quite high. This indicated that participants learned the objectives and implementation phases ofexperiments sufficiently. Notwithstanding, field observations revealed that participants needed to further readand study the Facilitators Book. Also, experienced facilitators played a key role in supporting the newfacilitators that joined in the project this year.

50% of Scientific Literacy items showed statistically significant differences. Participants began to think that

science could be understood by most people not just by scientists. They began to see science as moreenjoyable and fun than they did before training. They no longer think that scientific study is difficult to do.Participants perception of scientists has changed as well. Their opinions such as Scientific methods provid eabsolute proofs," Scientific methods can answer all the questions," There is no cultural diversity in scientificknowledge," Scientific methods can answer all the questions," Electronic devices are indeed the examplesof valuable products of science remained the same after the training. Furthermore, their ideas about the placeand function of imagination in science were controversial. On one hand, they began to think that imaginationand creativity were important in the formation of scientific knowledge and on the other hand no significantchange was observed on the idea that there was no place for imagination in science.

Extra data regarding participants skills and opinions were gathered via the EQ-2. Participants were asked toshare the skills they acquired and opinions that changed during the training in the EQ - 2. Their responses

were presented below, from most frequent to least.

Skills

How to approach to children

Communication with childrenSelf-expressionUsing positive communication methodsWorking as a teamThinking as a child

Moderating experiments

Opinions and attitudes

I have understood the difference between

interpretation and fact.Scientific knowledge is subjective.Scientific knowledge has cultural diversity.Science is everywhere.From now on I do like doing experiments.

You dont have to be in a lab to do experiments.Teamwork increases efficiency.There is nothing to be afraid of science.My perspective on science has changed.I can work with children now.Scientific knowledge is not absolute and canchange.

Opinions that changed with the effect of the training provided evidence for the improvement of participantsview of science.

All items under Volunteerism, CVF and its principles were found statistically significantly different. Thissuggested that participants knew CVF and its principles better than they did before, learned basic concepts ofvolunteerism and relations among them, and could debate on volunteerism being aware of what they meant.


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We looked at the answers of the participants to the open-ended questions in the EQ -2 and outputs of theevaluation meeting held with trainers, project coordinator and consultant at the end of the training to evaluatethe training process.

Participants were satisfied with the technical conditions (Graphic5).

The participants reported that the structure of the training was well-prepared and also flexible to the needs ofthe participants and their learning process. Participants reported that not only they didnt get bored but had funduring the training. At the same time, they thought that it was an intensive program, and they got tiredoccasionally. They stated that since it was a well planned program despite its intensiveness they couldntrealize how the whole week passed by.

Very good, well informed, well-prepared, sincere, energetic, supportive, cheerful, understanding andattentive were the adjectives and expressions that participants used as they evaluated the trainers. They alsoadded that with their behaviors the trainers had the participants feel as the members of a big team.

Participants were asked whether they felt like being a facilitator in the project at the end of the training.

22 of 24 participants responded as Yes. 2 of them responded Yes, but I need support. This indicated thatthey were confident enough to facilitate the workshops.

In the evaluation meetings with the training team following topics and recommendations came to the fore.These outcomes would be meaningful to consider when designing the next SLT.

Creating an additional space in the program where the participants can experience what they havelearned in the communication session.

Not to allow single trainer to facilitate almost the whole day. Considering which trainings the participants had before SLT during admission period. The participants who didnt participate in the SLT but volunteered the previous year may get

distracted and indifferent in the training. Another role might be assigned for those participants.

Conclusively, the participants;

understood the developmental characteristics of children more, paying regard to individualdifferences;

did case studies on communication with children and improved their communication skills;such as giving effective instructions, using "positive expression", using reward and

reinforcement techniques, using open and closed ended questions.

did case studies on classroom management and improved their knowledge on variousmethods for managing undesirable behavior of children during the workshops;

acquired basics of children centered approach, which promotes the right of the children tochoose, make connections and communicate; and also allows freedom for the children tothink, experience, explore, question and search for answers.

need time and practice to better improve newly acquired knowledge and skills oncommunicating with children and classroom management, especially in cases of conflicts.

had a greater understanding of what it requires to be a team and gained basic skills andattitude to form a team and maintain its functions.

learned the objectives and implementation phases of experiments sufficiently.and

50% of Scientific Literacy items showed statistically significant differences. Opinions that changed with the effect of the training provided evidence for the improvement

of participants view of science.


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In conclusion, results of both EQ1 and EQ - 2 confirmed that the training served its purposes. Revision andrestructuring the sessions on Working with Children, adding sessions on Teamwork, Feedback andCase Studies strengthened the impact of the training.

In addition, allowing all of the volunteers who would take part in the project to participate in the SLT wassuggested in the previous years evaluation report. It was not possible to achieve th is due to the budgetplanning. So, in order to expand the local project groups and provide opportunity for all the volunteers toreceive training the project team made local dissemination trainings in each city.

The number of young volunteers participated in the trainings were as follows:Bolu: 23, Edirne: 13, stanbul: 11, Ordu: 22, Osmaniye: 25, Kars: 12

Workshops

Between October 2012 and June 2012, 175 young volunteers and 1582 children joined the project in 6 cities;Istanbul, Edirne, Ordu, Osmaniye, Bolu and Kars, at 13 primary schools. (see BYSAP Final Report for further

information).

Two data collection instruments were developed to evaluate the workshop process. Exchange of ExperiencesForm (EEF), Posters children made and Letters children wrote. EEFs also provided additional qualitative datafor the assessment of Scientific Literacy Training (SLT).

Exchange of Experiences

As the project was implemented by six different youth organizations (project teams) in six cities it was

important for the facilitators to be in contact and share their experiences. This was also the facilitatorsexpectation at the end of SLT. Apart from the e-mail and Facebook groups, where the facilitators exchangedinformation, pictures, and videos of ongoing activities and related material, Exchange of Experiences Form(EEF) was developed as a more structured way of exchanging information among the project groups andfacilitators (see Annex3). The other equally important function of EEFs was to provide qualitative data for

process evaluation from the facilitators point of view.

By filling out these forms, the facilitators shared their own experience and reflections on the workshops,concentrating on their personal experience, program, teamwork, children, school officials, technicalconditions, workshop objectives and suggestions for further workshops.

Randomly selected 62 EEFs were reviewed and the summary of data is presented below.

Personal Experience

Personal experience refers to how the facilitators see and assess themselves during the workshopimplementation. Being a facilitator in these workshops evokes facilitators certain feelings which they reflectin their responses.

Facilitators usually felt anxious, particularly about communicating with children before their initialworkshops. Their level of this kind of performance anxiety was quite natural and tended to decrease as theyparticipated in more than one workshop. Active team mate support also decreased this kind of anxiety. On theother hand, most of them reported positive feelings such as joy, excitement and happiness and these feelingswere crucial in the effectiveness of the workshops. As long as the facilitators felt joyful, excited and happyabout what they are doing in the workshops the children felt more comfortable, excited and happy; and in


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return they participated more in the experiments. Also, being able to motivate children and observing theirincreasing curiosity made the facilitators feel satisfied with the workshops and the project itself.

Considerable amount of facilitators reported that they also learned from the children and began to see scienceas more fun than they did before.

Teamwork

Facilitators reported an overall satisfaction about the teamwork during the project. The most compellingevidence was the task-sharing. In most of the workshops they shared their roles and tasks by taking personalchoices into consideration. Frequently, they assisted each other and felt as a team as a consequence during theworkshops. As suggested in the SLT, they formed pre-defined teams; assigning separate pre-defined roles forpreparation of materials, moderation of experiments, assistants, photography. They also cared about havingenough number of team members ( at least 6) as much as possible. In some few cases, especially when therewere only one member who participated in the SLT and no preparation meeting was held, facilitators haddifficulty in working as a team. For most of the teams selecting the roles/tasks were up to personal choices.Some teams used drawing lots method to share the tasks.

Program

In the SLT the facilitators were advised to decide the optimal number of experiments they would do in orderto increase the quality of the workshops. It was up to the facilitators to determine the experiments they woulddo considering the time they had, number of team members, number of children, physical conditions,materials, etc. According to the EEFs, the facilitators took this advice and this allowed them to concentrate on

the context of the experiments, debriefing questions and group dynamics, energizer games and classroommanagement more.

Homemade Ice Cream and Colors Dancing in the Milk were the experiments that the facilitators reportedas most favorite ones.

Some of the facilitators suggested that it would be better to increase the number of the experiments for two

reasons . First, some of the experiments which were well received by the 4th

grades seemed simple and dull forthe 6

thgrades. Second, some children already knew most of the experiments before since they had seen them

in a TV show, and gathering their attention became so difficult.

Technical Conditions

Overall assessment of facilitators feedback on technical conditions suggested that the places they used andthe materials provided by the project team were satisfactory. Most of the workshops took place in the labs ofthe schools and the physical condition of these labs were found adequate enough to do the experiments. Whenclassrooms were used some facilitators complained about the size of the classrooms. It is also seen that the

facilitators utilized some practica

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