Bayer Genç Bilim Elçileri - Final Raporu

BAYER YOUNG SCIENCE AMBASSADORS
BAYER YOUNG SCIENCE AMBASSADORS OCTOBER 2011 MAY 2012 FINAL REPORT
CONTENTS
Executive Summary ............................................................................................................................................. 2 Project Summary.................................................................................................................................................. 4 Project Statistics .................................................................................................................................................. 6 Project Content .................................................................................................................................................... 8 Project Activities .................................................................................................................................................. 9 Determination of TOG Volunteers ......................................................................................................15 Scientific Literacy Training ...................................................................................................................15 Press Conference ..................................................................................................................................16 Science Workshop.................................................................................................................................17 Project Training for Bayer Employees ..................................................................................................18 Science Workshop for Bayer Employees Children ...............................................................................19 Field Visits .............................................................................................................................................20 BYSA in Kocaeli International Children Festival...................................................................................21 BYSA Workshop in Sapanca .................................................................................................................22 Project Evaluation Meeting ..................................................................................................................23 BYSA on Media......................................................................................................................................24 Project Team .........................................................................................................................................28 Final Evaluation Report .....................................................................................................................................30 Links ...................................................................................................................................................................74
BAYER YOUNG SCIENCE AMBASSADORS BAYER YOUNG SCIENCE AMBASSADORS MIDTERM REPORT
Project Name Project Partners Financial Supporter Implementation Period Reporting Period
Bayer Young Science Ambassadors (BYSA) Bayer Turk & Toplum Gnllleri Vakf (TOG) Bayer Turk 01.09.2011 31.05.2012 01.09.2011 31.05.2012
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Science is always considered to be redundant for society in Turkey. One of the most important issues of that understanding comes from the very pragmatic approach that the economic return must be very quick in one humans life. There is a general opinion that the individuals that work for science cannot earn enough money for their life. This understanding affects the scientific literacy of the people very negatively. From primary to the higher education level, the approach to science is not welcomed or promoted. The curriculums are not enough for the promotion of the science. The text books do not adequately promote the learning process itself and the formal education cannot achieve to foster the creative and critical thinking of the scientific literacy. According to the PISA 20061, looking at the performance in Science and self-efficacy in science, Turkeys rank is at the lower mean performance in science. As the science begins early in childhood, it is a must to empower the children in the age of primary school. During this time interval young peoples role is very important for children as they are big sisters and brothers who shall act as the agents of encouraging. Through partnership of Bayer Turkey and TOG, a new scientific literacy training model designed that based on non-formal techniques in which TOG has great experience and know-how. 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 project increases the scientific literacy amongst young people through a non formal training tool and young people, as a multiplier and the agents of change, support the learning of children in primary school. The understanding of the science is needless for the society will be changed through the participation of young people as Science Ambassadors exists now and after. Young people are being role models for the children now and will be in the future.
http://www.pisa.oecd.org/document/2/0,3343,en_32252351_32236191_39718850_1_1_1_1,00.html . PISA measures scientific literacy across a continuum from basic literacy skills through high levels of knowledge of scientific concepts and examines students capacity to use their understanding of these concepts and to think scientifically about real-life problems. p. 13 in the executive summary
BAYER YOUNG SCIENCE AMBASSADORS The aims of the BYSA Project; 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 BYSA Project; Accordingly, the main objective of the project is to improve the scientific literacy level of its target groups (6th, 7th and 8th grade 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 Oct 2011 and May 2012, Project team was built up by project coordinator. Project Content was prepared and booklets for young science ambassadors and for children were written by the project consultant. Tools for monitoring and evaluation of the project were designed by the external expert. 24 Young TOG volunteers participated in the Scientific Literacy Training that took place in Istanbul. 24 young science ambassadors shared their knowledge and experiences with the other volunteers in their local communities in order to expand the project team and reach more primary school children. In total, 90 young science ambassadors reached 1037 children until the end of May 2012. A Press Conference organized by Bayer Turkey with the attendance of TOG and young science ambassadors in Dec 2012. A Science Workshop was carried out by 8 young science ambassadors at TOG 19.Youth Council where approximately 300 young volunteers participated. A training for Bayer employees was designed and carried out with a participation of 50 employees. A Science Workshop was carried out for Bayer employees children where approximately 100 children participated in. Field visits to local project groups were done by TOG, Bayer Turkey and media representatives. On 3rd of March, young science ambassadors made a science workshop for the student in Sapanca organized a team building project to make a difference Young science ambassadors presented the project in Kocaeli International Children Festival where 1000 children from 41 countries participated between April 20th and 23th. A Semi-structured Evaluation Meeting organized by project team with 10 young science ambassadors. With a full participation of the project local groups, a main evaluation meeting of the project was done in May 2012.
BAYER YOUNG SCIENCE AMBASSADORS PROJECT SUMMARY
Pilot Period Perspective of the Project Number of matching TOG organization & school on project Number of direct beneficiary children Number of indirect beneficiary children Total TOG volunteer participated to project TOTAL
Targeted 4 TOG organization 4 primary schools 900 1800 24 2724
Achieved 5 TOG organization 8 primary schools 1037 2074 90 3201
Implementation Area stanbul, Ankara, zmir and Kars
TOG Youth Organizations Implementing the Project stanbul University, Maltepe University, Hacettepe University, Kafkas University, Dokuz Eyll University TOG Groups.
Project Implemented Primary Schools: Primary schools were determined with the assistance of the Directorates of Education. stanbul: Ktip Kasm lkretim Okulu Tevfik Kut lkretim Okulu Ali hsan Hayrlolu lkretim Okulu ehit retmen Ahmet Onay lkretim Okulu Ankara: Trk i Bloklar lkretim Okulu Beytepe Ilkretim Okulu Kars: zmir: Fevzi Paa lkretim Okulu Zehra Semahat Erien lkretim Okulu
Kars
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 Pilot Project 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 Pilot Project Accordingly, the main objective of the project is to improve the scientific literacy level of its target groups (6th, 7th and 8th grade 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.
Project Partners Ministry of Education Bayer Turk TOG Vakf
Expected Outcomes A unique non formal training module on scientific literacy will be developed 24 young community volunteers will be the Science Ambassadors 900 children will be scientific literate citizenry for the pilot period in 4 primary school
PROJECT STATISTICS
24 TOG Volunteers participated in Scientific Literacy Training to be young science ambassadors which was held in Istanbul between Nov 30th Dec 4th 2011. Gender Distribution of the participants: Table 1: City / Gender Istanbul Ankara Izmir Kars Total Female 5 2 3 3 13 Male 1 4 3 3 11 24
Gender equality and positive discrimination were two of the criteria of selection process. In total, 90 young science ambassadors and 1037 children joined the project between Sep 2011 - May 2012 in four cities. The number of the young science ambassadors did not show a significant difference by cities. Getting the legal permissions from Directorates of Education took different durations in each city. Therefore each project group started volunteering at different times.
BAYER YOUNG SCIENCE AMBASSADORS Table 2: Participation of BYSA City Istanbul Ankara Izmir Kars Total BYSA 20 22 23 25 90
In the pilot period of the Project, those activities were done by the end of May 2012: Getting Legal Permissions from Directorates of Education, Building up the Project Team, Developing the Training Module, Determining the Youth Organizations joining the Project, Training of Local Project Groups, Determination of the Project Implementation Schools, Determination of the Children in the Project, Monitoring and Evaluation, Project Evaluation Meeting, Field Visits, Communication, Mid-Term Reporting and Project Coordination. Table 3, below, shows the timetable of the activities. Table 3: Project Activities by the end of May 2012 Activities Months Getting Legal Permissions from Directorates of Education Building up the Project Team Developing the Training Module Determining the Youth Organizations joining the Project Training of the Local Project Groups Determination of the Project Implementation Schools Determination of the Children in the Project Monitoring & Evaluation Project Evaluation Meeting Field Visits Communication Reporting Project Coordination 9 10 11 12 1 2 3 4 5
BAYER YOUNG SCIENCE AMBASSADORS 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 of nature of science which is a part of scientific literacy. Accordingly, the main objective of the project is to improve the scientific literacy level of its target groups (6th, 7th and 8th grade 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.
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 science ambassadors. 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.
BAYER YOUNG SCIENCE AMBASSADORS PROJECT ACTIVITIES It takes 2 days to implement the whole program in the primary schools for each group of 16-20 children. Table 4: The 2 days program Duration 30 min 20 min 15 min 40 min 15 min 40 min 15 min 10 min 20 min 25 min Activity DAY 1 Getting to know each other Science Bingo Exp 1: Do flowers drink water? Break Exp 2: Let's make a thermometer! Break Exp 3: Colors dancing in the milk! Break Energizer: Molecules Exp 4: Screaming balloons Closing session: Groups poster DAY 2 15 min 5 min 40 min 15 min 15 min 40 min 15 min 30 min 10 min Continue to Exp 1: Do flowers drink water? Grouping Activity: Colorful Dots Exp 5: Is black really black? Break Energizer: Solar System Exp 6: Homemade Ice cream Break Exp 7: The chemical of red cabbage Crossword Puzzle Closing session: Writing a letter 30 min What kind of a scientist would I like to be?
10
BAYER YOUNG SCIENCE AMBASSADORS What children think and share:
11
BAYER YOUNG SCIENCE AMBASSADORS AIMS AND OUTPUTS OF EXPERIMENTS Experiment 1: Do Flowers Drink Water?
Istanbul
Izmir
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. 2 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. Experiment 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 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
Izmir
water is cooled. 3
http://www.stevespanglerscience.com/experiment/colorful-carnations
12
BAYER YOUNG SCIENCE AMBASSADORS 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 in their 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. Experiment 3: Colors Dancing in the Milk! 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
Scientific Literacy Training
milk. 4 Children learn the importance and effect of soap on cleaning and why we people wash our hands with soap. Experiment 4: Screaming Balloons 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 screaming sound as there is no vibration on the walls of the balloon. 5 With this experiment children observe both the sound and motion.
TOG 19. Youth Council
http://www.stevespanglerscience.com/experiment/water-thermometer-sick-science
http://www.stevespanglerscience.com/experiment/milk-color-explosion
http://www.stevespanglerscience.com/product/screaming-balloon-kit
13
BAYER YOUNG SCIENCE AMBASSADORS Experiment 5:
Is Black Really Black? 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. 6
Istanbul
Experiment 6: Homemade Ice-cream 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.
Izmir
The more salt added, the lower the temperature will be before the salt- water solution freezes.7
http://www.stevespanglerscience.com/experiment/is-black-black
http://www.stevespanglerscience.com/experiment/homemade-ice-cream-sick-science
14
BAYER YOUNG SCIENCE AMBASSADORS Experiment 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.8
Ankara
DETERMINATION OF TOG VOLUNTEERS The project implementing cities were determined with the assistance of TOG Field Department and in coordination with Project Partner. Field visits were realized by the Project Coordinator together with the Field Coordinators to volunteer groups in Istanbul, Ankara, Izmir and Kars.
http://www.stevespanglerscience.com/product/1552
15
BAYER YOUNG SCIENCE AMBASSADORS SCIENTIFIC LITERACY TRAINING
Scientific Literacy Training, the main training of the Project, took place in Istanbul between Nov 30 th and Dec 4th 2011. This is the training which the volunteers need to participate in order to gain knowledge and skills before getting the Project started in their locality. 24 young TOG volunteers participated in the training from Istanbul, Izmir, Kars and Ankara. 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.
16
BAYER YOUNG SCIENCE AMBASSADORS PRESS CONFERENCE
In order to announce the starting of the BYSA Project, Project partner Bayer Turk organized a press conference on December 20th 2011. Bayer Turk CEO Axel Hamann and TOG CEO Kerim Paker attended the conference and gave a speech. Following them, Project Coordinator zge Snmez shared the aims and objectives of the BYSA Project in details. The press conference took place in several publication organs and online media in Turkey.
17
BAYER YOUNG SCIENCE AMBASSADORS SCIENCE WORKSHOP
Gaziantep, a city located in the south-east of Turkey, was chosen to host TOGs 19th Youth Council. This council was organized by Gaziantep TOG Youth Organization. From Thursday the 2nd of February until Sunday, the 5th of February, 300 young people, chosen taking into account to the gender equality, were reunited to celebrate this important event of the foundation.
The TOG volunteers that were selected to participate at the council were representing the 94 TOGs University Clubs spread all around Turkey. The second day, ten different workshops were led by the volunteers. Young Science Ambassadors have ran a Science Workshop with 32 participants. 3 experiments were carried out and the project was presented. Local TOG Youth groups from various cities which are interested in implementing the BYSA project next year shared their contact information with the project coordinator. The participants were extremely impressed by the science workshop that they were all curious about the project for the remainder of the council.
18
PROJECT TRAINING FOR BAYER EMPLOYEES
In order to include Bayer employees to BYSA Project as volunteers, a training program was developed by the project team on March 21st. 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. 50 Bayer volunteers participated in the training from Istanbul, Izmir and some other cities of Turkey. The content of the training was composed of scientific literacy and experiments, working and communicating with children, volunteerism and some necessary technical information of the project. Training was accomplished by the project consultant, project coordinator and one of the young science ambassadors.
19
SCIENCE WORKSHOP FOR BAYER EMPLOYEES CHILDREN
On April 28th, a science workshop was done with approximately 100 children. Two different workshop programs were designed depending on the age of children. School and preschool children 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 7 young science ambassadors, both workshops were completed with a success. 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.
20
BAYER YOUNG SCIENCE AMBASSADORS 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 in Istanbul, Izmir and Kars 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 with project coordinator, consultant and monitoring and evaluation expert. 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.
Kars
21
BAYER YOUNG SCIENCE AMBASSADORS BYSA in KOCAELI INTERNATIONAL CHILDREN FESTIVAL
Between April 20th - 23th, BYSA Project was presented in Kocaeli International Children Festival by young science ambassadors volunteering in the project. 1000 children from 41 countries participated in the festival where there were stands on children and education. BYSA stand was one the most interested stands with the participatory scientific experiments for children. There also created a space for childrens paintings on science as an exhibition.
22
BYSA in SAPANCA
On 3rd of March, Bayer organized a team building project to make a difference for a primary school named Nebiye Ertan lkretim Okulu in Sapanca. While Bayer employees were repairing the school according to the needs, young science ambassadors made a science workshop for the student where 26 students participated. The presentation of the project was also done to the teachers and the project materials were shared with them in order to reach more children.
23
PROJECT EVALUATION MEETING
The main evaluation of the project was done on May 16th and 17th in Istanbul. 19 young science ambassadors from all four project implementing cities participated in the meeting. Project partner Bayer also had been in the meeting. The outputs of the project were presented by the evaluation expert. In the meeting, participants did both evaluate the pilot year process and shared their experiences with each other. They identified the difficulties and the problems they had and gave feasible suggestions for the next year. All the outputs of the meeting were taken into account by the project coordinator for the revising of the project content.
24
BYSA on MEDIA During the pilot year, BYSA Project took place on several national and local mass media resources including printed and online media. Below, some examples of news can be found about BYSA.
Haber Trk 14.05.2012
25
Sabah 16.05.2012
Bilim insan olabilirsiniz ocuklar AL BALCI 16.05.2012 lkretim andaki ocuklara bilimi sevdirmeyi amalayan Bayer ve Toplum Gnllleri Vakf stanbul, zmir ve Ankara gibi byk ehirler ile birlikte Kars'taki rencilere de ulat
lkretim andaki ocuklara bilimi sevdirmeyi amalayan Bayer ve Toplum Gnllleri Vakf (TOG) drt ehirde binden fazla ilkretim rencisine ulat. nceki gn Kars'taki Fevzi Paa lkretim Okulu'ndaki rencilerle buluan vakf yneticileri onlarla birlikte eitli deneyler yapt. niversiteli gnll aabeyleri, ocuklara bilimin korkulacak bir ey olmadn onlarn da bir gn bilim insan olabileceini gsterdiler. Toplum Gnllleri Vakf ve Bayer'in ibirliiyle hayata geirilen "Bayer Gen Bilim Elileri" Projesi'nde gnll alan niversite rencileri, zmir, Ankara ve stanbul gibi byk ehirlerden sonra kendilerine Kars' da bir alma alan olarak setiler. Gnll Bilim Elileri, 4-5 ve 6. snf rencilerine 'iekler su ier mi?', 'Termometre yapalm!', 'Stn iinde dans eden renkler!', 'lk atan balonlar', 'Siyah gerekten siyah m?', 'Ev yapm dondurma', 'Krmz lahana kimyas' gibi deneyler, bulmacalar ve oyunlarla bilimin korkulacak bir ey olmadn, keyif alnarak renilebileceini rettiler. Proje kapsamnda 2011- 2012 eitim ylnda 90 gnll gen bilim elisiyle 7 ilkretim okulunda binden fazla ilkretim rencisine bilim eitimi verilirken, 2015 yl sonuna kadar dokuz bin renciye ulalmas hedefleniyor.
26
BAYER YOUNG SCIENCE AMBASSADORS 15 Mays 2012 Hrriyet Kampus Haber Daha iyi bir yaam iin bilim sloganyla yola kan niversite rencileri, ilkretim rencilerini gelecekte bilim insan olma ynnde yreklendiriyorlar. Pnar KARAHAN TOPLUM Gnllleri Vakf (TOG) ve Bayerin ibirliiyle hayata geirilen Bayer Gen Bilim Elileri Projesinde gnll alan niversite rencileri, zmir, Ankara ve stanbuldan sonra Karstayd. Gnll Bilim Elileri, Fevzi Paa lkretim Okulu 4,5 ve 6. snf rencilerine iekler su ier mi?, Termometre yapalm!, Stn iinde dans eden renkler!, Kark kelimeler, lk atan balonlar, Siyah gerekten siyah m?, Ev yapm dondurma, Krmz lahana kimyas gibi deneyler, bulmacalar ve oyunlarla bilimin korkulacak bir ey olmadn, keyif alnarak renilebileceini rettiler.
Hedef 9.000 renciye ulamak Proje kapsamnda 2011-2012 eitim ylnda 90 gnll gen bilim elisiyle 7 ilkretim okulunda 1.000den fazla ilkretim rencisine bilim eitimi verilirken, 2015 yl sonuna kadar 240 gen bilim elisi ile 40 ilde 9.000 renciye ulalmas hedefleniyor. Projede yer almak isteyen renciler TOGa bavurarak gnll Bayer Gen Bilim Elisi olabilirler. Yusuf elebi: Baz retmenler ok kark anlatyor anlamyoruz ama abi ve ablalarn anlattklarn anladk hem de elendik. Hep gelsinler isterim. Fatma nar: Deneyleri yaparken ok eleniyoruz. iekleri renkli sulara koyduk. Su imelerine bakacaz. Keke hep gelseler. zgr Azer Alsan: Baka deneylerde yapmak istiyorum. Eve gittiimde de deneyeceim. Abiler ve ablalar sperler. Anlayacamz gibi anlatyorlar. Zeynep Namko: Fen ve teknoloji dersinde deneyler yapyoruz ama burada rendiimiz gibi elenceli deil.
27
BAYER YOUNG SCIENCE AMBASSADORS 10.05.2012 - Ege Telgraf, zmir
28
PROJECT TEAM 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.
29

FINAL EVALUATION REPORT
OCTOBER 2011 MAY 2012
Erhan Okak Monitoring&Evaluation Expert Psychologist, MA
30
Contents
Contents ............................................................................................................................................................ 31 Executive Summary ........................................................................................................................................... 32 Abbreviations .................................................................................................................................................... 36 Introduction ....................................................................................................................................................... 37 Aims and Scope of the Project ............................................................................................................. 37 Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) Plan and Data Collection Instruments .......................................... 37 Summative Evaluation ....................................................................................................................................... 38 Scientific Literacy Training (SLT) ........................................................................................................... 38 Aims and Objectives .................................................................................................................................. 38 Setting and Demographics ........................................................................................................................ 39 Methodology and Assessment Tools......................................................................................................... 40 Results ....................................................................................................................................................... 41 Conclusions and Recommendations ......................................................................................................... 45 Workshops............................................................................................................................................ 47 Exchange of Experiences ........................................................................................................................... 48 Field Visits and Evaluation Workshops with the Project Groups .............................................................. 50 Project Evaluation Meeting ....................................................................................................................... 52 Letters and Posters .................................................................................................................................... 57 Conclusions and Recommendations ................................................................................................................. 60 ANNEX -1 ........................................................................................................................................................... 64 ANNEX - 2 .......................................................................................................................................................... 66 ANNEX 4 .......................................................................................................................................................... 72 ANNEX 5 .......................................................................................................................................................... 73
31
Executive Summary
The main purposes of the evaluation process were to assess the effectiveness of the Bayer Young Science Ambassadors Project (BYSAP) in terms of its aims and objectives; and to provide relevant information to improve the implementation process of it. Both quantitative and qualitative research methods were employed in this evaluation. An additional purpose of this report was to present the evaluation plan and data collection instruments. The main objective of BYSAP is to improve the scientific literacy level of its target groups (6th, 7th and 8th grade 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 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 became the facilitators and implemented the workshops in four pilot cities. (Young Science Ambassadors). Between Oct 2011 and May 2012,
Project team was built up by project coordinator. Project Content was prepared and booklets for young science ambassadors and for children were written by the project consultant. Tools for monitoring and evaluation of the project were designed by the external expert. 24 Young TOG volunteers participated in the Scientific Literacy Training that took place in Istanbul. 24 young science ambassadors shared their knowledge and experiences with the other volunteers in their local communities in order to expand the project team and reach more primary school children. In total, 90 young science ambassadors (target was 40) reached 1037 children (target was 900), in 8 schools (target was 4), at the end of May 2012. A Press Conference organized by Bayer Turkey with the attendance of TOG and young science ambassadors in Dec 2012. A Science Workshop was carried out by 8 young science ambassadors at TOG 19.Youth Council where approximately 300 young volunteers participated. A training for Bayer employees was designed and carried out with the participation of 50 employees. A Science Workshop was carried out for Bayer employees children where approximately 100 children participated in. Field visits to local project groups were done by TOG, Bayer Turkey and media representatives. On 3rd of March, young science ambassadors made a science workshop for the student in Sapanca organized a team building project to make a difference
32
Young science ambassadors presented the project in Kocaeli International Children Festival where 1000 children from 41 countries participated between April 20 th and 23rd. A Semi-structured Evaluation Meeting with 10 young science ambassadors was organized by project team. With full participation of the project local project teams, an overall evaluation meeting for the project was held in May 2012.
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. 24 young science ambassadors (aged between 17 - 25);
Learned about the characteristics of scientific knowledge. Reflected on their prejudices on scientific knowledge and practice. Got willing to question, reason and understand the happenings and facts in nature. Experienced the activities (experiments) of the workshops they would facilitate in the primary schools. Understood the objectives of the workshop activities. Gained knowledge about the implementation steps of the workshop activities. Got familiar with the Facilitators Booklet they would use during the project. Learned the developmental characteristics of children, Did case studies on communication with children and improved their communication skills Learned children centered approach. Got to know CVF, and its principles better than they did before. Learned basic concepts of volunteerism and relations among them, and could debate on volunteerism being aware of what they meant.
Children (aged between 10 - 12) who participated in the workshops;
Had fun doing experiments. Began to like science more and to see the fun in it. Got excited and motivated about doing experiments and becoming scientist. Began to imagine themselves as scientists. Got more curious about science and technology. Had increased interest in science. Were able to express their creativity. Began to question the happenings and facts around them. Showed gratitude to the facilitators for the activities and the day. Got willing to disseminate what they had learned.
According to the SLT and workshop results, it is clear that vast majority of project objectives were achieved in the pilot period. However, there were opportunities to improve results. Key recommendations were as follows. For SLT (Scientific Literacy Training) 33
Spending two days instead of one for experiments. Planning 90 minutes sessions as if they take 75 minutes in order to spend more time for debriefing. Reviewing the sessions on Communication with Children. Making agreement with the participants which creates the setting for the training at the beginning to reduce delays in the mornings. Reducing the lunch break to 1 hour. Sending participants some material such as a story, flyer, article, etc. to make them curious about the training. Providing a free afternoon for participants. Adding sessions to the program including the topics preparation for workshops, giving and receiving feedback, making effective evaluation meetings and working as a team.
For Workshops and Facilitation
Preparing an agreement together with children at the beginning of the workshops to ease classroom management and encourage the children to participate in workshops more (Agreement could be written on a poster and signed by all the participants and facilitators). Giving more positive and clear instructions for the experiments. Positively reinforcing childrens questions and contributions by approving them, and responding enthusiastically. Paying particular attention to the debriefing questions. Making two experiments a day instead of three or four to provide more time for communicating and connecting with children, and debriefing. Using small group classroom setup for making experiments. Having one facilitator for each small group. Using u-shaped classroom setup and allow more time for debriefing. Studying the Facilitators Booklet more carefully. Making preparation meetings before the workshops, sharing roles and tasks more accurately. Making evaluation after the workshops and giving feedback to each other.
General Recommendations
Conducting two SLTs to ensure all the young volunteers participate in the training, not %60 percent of them, to ensure that they all have competencies necessary for facilitating the workshops. Providing field visits for young volunteers to interact and learn from each other. Organizing periodic consultation meetings to support young science ambassadors (volunteers) in terms of working with children, and/or providing supervision. Organizing social events and activities which will enhance volunteer motivation Promoting active use of Exchange of Experiences Forms and other interaction channels of the project (social media and mailing groups) to improve the network among local project teams
34
Trying to understand the interrelations between science, technology, society and environment, questioning their own prejudices about science and scientists, and understanding and appreciating the value of science and technology were seemed as difficult-to-reach objectives for these workshops so far, considering their duration and context. Therefore, long term implementation (for example, a six-week program instead of two days) was needed for such objectives to be realized.
The evaluation results showed that BYSAP was planned and implemented in a way that led to (1) an increased curiosity and interest in science; scientific knowledge and practice, (2) significant change in perception of science, scientific practice and scientists in its target groups.
35
Abbreviations
BYSAP SLT EEF CVF - TOG EQ 1 EQ 2 PLL PEM Bayer Young Science Ambassadors Project Scientific Literacy Training Exchange of Experiences Form Community Volunteers Foundation Evaluation Questionnaire 1 Evaluation Questionnaire 2 Perceived Levels of Learning Project Evaluation Meeting
36
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 the project 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 (6th, 7th and 8th grade 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 young volunteers, who participated from 4 different TOG Youth Organizations, focusing on attitudes towards children, scientific literacy, voluntary work and facilitation skills. Second were the Workshops developed 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 the young volunteers; the participants of SLT. In addition, the expected outcomes of the project were as follows: A unique non-formal training module on scientific literacy (SLT) 24 young community volunteers as the Science Ambassadors (SLT participants) 900 scientific literate children in 4 primary schools (workshop participants)
Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) Plan and Data Collection Instruments

The evaluation plan of the BYSAP was designed to assess the objectives and the project activities mentioned above. The activities and the process of the BYSAP were studied focusing on two major areas and the interception of both. 37
Evaluation of the Scientific Literacy Training and its effects on its participants (young community volunteers). Monitoring and Evaluation of the two-day workshops (basically consisting 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 instruments for the SLT. Furthermore, three other instruments were designed in order to assess the effects of the SLT focusing on the implementation process of the workshops. These were the field visits, semistructured evaluation meetings with the facilitators and Exchange of Experiences Form (EEF) (by which the facilitators share their experiences 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 primary school students (aged between 10-12).
A. Monthly Activity Reports: The technical reports, including information such as the number of the workshops organized, number of the children participated in these workshops, number of the facilitators, etc. and which were prepared monthly by the facilitator groups. These reports are being collected by the project coordinator and used for the midterm report of the project. B. Exchange of Experiences Form for the Facilitators: The forms by which the facilitators share their 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 their image of a scientist. 9
Finally, an overall project evaluation meeting (PEM) was held on May 16 th 17th, with the participation of 19 young volunteers, project coordinator, consultant, evaluator and representatives of Bayer Turk.
Summative Evaluation
In this section, results based on the data collected during the project will be presented; including the SLT evaluation, outputs of the evaluation workshops, analysis of the EEFs, posters and letters, and outputs of the Project Evaluation Meeting.
Scientific Literacy Training (SLT)

Aims and Objectives The SLT basically aimed at enabling participants to reflect on their understanding of science, scientific knowledge, scientific practices and to develop curiosity about science; and also developing participants competencies necessary for facilitating the workshops they implemented during the project with children.
9
All of the instruments are detailed in the relevant sections of this report.
38
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 for enabling the participants to understand the conceptual framework, and the setting that the voluntary work needed during the project stands on. First was the concept of volunteerism. And the second was Community Volunteers Foundation (CVF) itself; its aims, principles, organizational structure, activities, projects and the opportunities it offers to young volunteers. The specific objectives related to these themes were included in the training evaluation as well. Setting and Demographics The Scientific Literacy Training took place on 30th November to 4th December 2011, in Istanbul with the participation of 24 young volunteers from 4 different CVF Youth Organizations, training team including project consultant, project coordinator, head of the projects department and the evaluator. Representatives of Bayer Turkey visited the training to give information about Bayer, particularly its corporate social responsibility strategy and explain where the BYSAP stands in this strategy. They also shared their 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, non-formal training and experiential learning methodology. Three preparatory meetings were held prior to the training 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 make observations, to apply the evaluation forms, to facilitate the Evaluation Session at the end of the program and to take part in the daily and final evaluation meetings with the training team. 24 young volunteers participated in the training of which 54% were women and 46% were men. The mean age of the participants was 21,50 2,12. The youngest participant was 18 years old, and the oldest was 25 years old.
39
BAYER YOUNG SCIENCE AMBASSADORS None of the participants had a Scientific Literacy training before but 35% of them reported that they had a training with the theme Working with Children before this training. The participants reported 19 different fields of study as their majors and only 21% of them were majored in natural sciences. Methodology and Assessment Tools The evaluator got involved at every stage of the training process, from the beginning (program design) to the end (post-training evaluation meeting), to make a versatile and meaningful assessment. A variety of data collection methods (quantitative and qualitative) were used in order to minimize the weakness of any single approach. With this intention, both the data gathered from the participants and feedback from the trainers had been used for assessment. The evaluation plan for the training involves the assessment of the significant changes in participants in terms of 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 Figure 1).
Daily evaluation sessions (with participants) Daily evaluation meetings (with trainers)
Program Design
Pre-test
Post-test
Day 1
Day 2
Day 3
Day 4
Day 5
Day 6
Final Evaluation Meeting (with trainers, coordinatar and consultant
Beginning of the training
End of the training
EVALUATION PLAN
Figure 1: Evaluation Plan for SLT
Evaluation Questionnaire 1: The SLT Evaluation Questionnaire 1 (EQ 1, see Annex -1) was developed to measure changes in knowledge, skills and opinions of the participants quantitatively, by the evaluator with the contribution of the training team. The EQ 1 had 56 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 know at all/Cant do at all/Strongly disagree to Know completely/Can do completely/Strongly agree (see Annex 1). 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 C during post-test (representing pre-test, post-test and revised pre-test scores, respectively). For the column C participants reassessed their pre-test scores after the training. Evaluation Questionnaire 2: The SLT Evaluation Questionnaire 2 (EQ 2, see Annex - 2) was basically a reactionnaire form which was developed to get feedback from the participants about overall structure and themes covered in the training, the trainers, technical conditions, etc. It also included a few open ended questions related with the aims of the training and some Likert scale items which could only be assessed
40
BAYER YOUNG SCIENCE AMBASSADORS after the training. 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. Daily Evaluation Sessions (with participants): These were the sessions where the participants shared their experiences about the program, expressed their feelings, heard how others had experienced that same part of the program and came up with suggestions and ideas to improve the program. These sessions also provided the team of trainers an effective means for staying in touch with the way the group of participants developed and identifying any problems and challenges that needed intervention. Daily Evaluation Meetings (with trainers): The meetings trainers held at the end of each day where they evaluated the sessions, participants reactions, the training team and make modifications on the program if necessary. 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 of trainers, coordinator, consultant and evaluator shortly after the training where overall structure and elements of 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 (4 of the participants EQ-1 were excluded since they were not completed as needed). In Graphic 1 pre-test (A), post-test (B) and revised pre-test (C) scores of the participants were presented. One-way Repeated Measures ANOVA was conducted to compare the A, B, C scores. The results indicated that there was a statistically significant difference across these three scores. Wilks Lambda = .23, F (2,18), p < .001. The means and standard deviations were presented in Table 1. In other words, generally speaking, the training had the desired effect on the participants in terms of its objectives.
Graphic 1: EQ-1 mean scores for participants
In addition, in Graphic 2, mean scores for each item were demonstrated. Although differences between pre-test and revised pre-test mean scores could be noticed these differences are not statistically significant as seen in Table - 2.
Graphic 2: Mean scores for EQ 1 items
41

Table 1: Descriptive Statistics for Pre-test, Post-test and Revised Pre-test Scores
Mean Pre-test Post-test Revised Pre-test 7,50 8,64 6,98
Std. Deviation ,748 ,399 1,46
N 20 20 20
Moreover, while Bonferroni Post Hoc Test revealed that post-test was statistically significantly different form post-test and revised pre-test there was no significant difference between pre-test and revised pre-test. The results were shown in Table 2.
Table 2: Descriptive Statistics for Pre-test, Post-test and Revised Pre-test Scores a (I) factor1 (J) factor1 Mean Std. Error Sig. 95% Confidence Interval a Difference for Difference (I-J) Lower Upper Bound Bound * Pre-test Post-test -1,142 ,151 ,000 -1,539 -,745 R.pre-test ,512 ,311 ,348 -,304 1,329 * Post-test Pre-test 1,142 ,151 ,000 ,745 1,539 * R.pre-test 1,654 ,334 ,000 ,777 2,532 R.pre-test Pre-test -,512 ,311 ,348 -1,329 ,304 * Post-test -1,654 ,334 ,000 -2,532 -,777 Based on estimated marginal means *. The mean difference is significant at the ,05 level. a. Adjustment for multiple comparisons: Bonferroni. R.pre-test: Revised pre-test
Given that there was no significant difference between pre-test and revised pre-test scores, in the following phase of analysis Wilcoxon Matched Pairs Signed Ranks Test was conducted to assess the difference between revised pre-test and post-test scores, for each item of EQ-1. The results were shown in Table 3 below.
Table 3: Mean scores for revised pre-test and post-test, and p values for Wilcoxon tests, EQ-1
No Items 1 2* 3* 4* 5* 6 7* 8* 9* 10 11* 12 13* 14* 15* 16* 17* 18* 19* 20* 21 22 All individuals aged between 0-18 are children. I know the aims of TOG. Volunteerism has diverse definitions. I know what "rights based work" with children means. I know how to express what I mean to a child. Scientific methods provide absolute proofs. I know the mechanisms for participating in decision making processes in TOG. Volunteerism is a way of civic participation. I know the developmental characteristics of children aged between 7-14. The child is an individual with rights. I know the essential values of working with children. Only highly educated scientists understand science. I can focus children's attention to a specific issue during the workshops. I know how TOG functions. I know the difference among volunteerism, helpfulness and charity. It can be fun to work in a science lab. I can manage an approach appropriate to the children's developmental characteristics. While facilitating a workshop with children process is more important than the product. I know the principles of TOG. I may not make big discoveries but studying science can be fun. There is no imagination in science. I can inform people about TOG's aims. r. Pretest 6,25 7,55 7,35 5,10 6,20 4,95 6,25 7,80 6,25 9,30 6,95 7,95 6,30 7,26 7,30 7,20 6,95 7,11 7,50 7,35 6,65 7,90 posttest 7,90 9,55 9,70 8,75 8,75 4,75 8,35 9,25 8,85 9,50 9,25 8,50 8,95 9,65 9,45 9,25 9,25 9,32 9,70 9,55 7,30 9,20 p values ,115 ,002 ,006 ,000 ,001 ,670 ,005 ,009 ,002 ,786 ,002 ,570 ,001 ,003 ,001 ,007 ,000 ,005 ,005 ,003 ,501 ,049
42

23* I know what active participation means. 24 Every child is different than the other. 25 Scientific methods can answer all the questions. A child is an individual, for whom an environment which allows his/her active participation 26* must be created. 27* I can think of myself in children's state and conditions while working with them. 28* I can specify the source of a problem during the workshops. 29* I know what kind of opportunities TOG provides for young people (e.g. scholarships, counseling, on volunteerism being 30* I can debateinternship, EVS, etc.). aware of what I mean. 31* 32* 33* 34* 35* 36* 37* 38 39* 40* 41 42* 43* 44 45 46 47 48* 49 50* 51* 52* 53* 54* 55 56* Every single child develops with his/her distinctive developmental phase. Electronic devices are indeed the examples of valuable products of science I know what children centered approach refers to. Most people can understand science. I know about the activities of TOG. I can create an environment which suits the needs of children I work with. I know what may cause communication failures while working with children. Scientists do not have enough time for their families or for fun. I can inform people about how TOG functions. I can solve a presenting problem while working with children. Scientific knowledge includes subjectivity. I can inform people about the principles of TOG. I know the impact of active participation. All children have equal opportunity to participate in the workshops and no discrimination is allowed for any is boring. Scientific study reason. There is no cultural diversity in scientific knowledge. Each child has different abilities and aptitudes. I know how to act if any problem occurs during the workshops with children. It might be very difficult for me to do scientific studies. I can inform people about TOG's activities. I can create an environment in which the children can easily share their thoughts and feelings. Imagination and creativity are important in the formation of scientific knowledge. Each child has a unique way of expressing him/herself. I know which precautions to I can take for an adverse situation not to occur while facilitating the workshops. Scientists have to work very hard. I have the skills necessary for facilitating the workshops. 7,75 9,15 5,50 8,25 8,10 6,10 7,00 7,70 8,15 4,40 6,05 6,25 7,75 6,40 6,45 7,50 7,65 6,55 3,80 7,05 7,60 9,15 8,70 4,45 9,45 6,15 6,85 7,80 6,50 7,68 8,15 6,35 4,65 6,65 9,45 9,85 6,20 9,70 9,55 8,80 9,55 9,45 9,80 2,90 9,05 8,30 9,70 9,25 9,35 7,00 9,80 8,80 5,35 9,30 9,65 9,90 8,95 4,65 9,95 9,10 6,85 9,65 9,20 9,53 9,45 9,05 4,30 9,25 ,002 ,066 ,132 ,007 ,003 ,001 ,002 ,004 ,008 ,005 ,000 ,001 ,002 ,000 ,000 ,476 ,001 ,001 ,054 ,001 ,003 ,068 ,611 ,937 ,180 ,000 ,943 ,001 ,000 ,008 ,028 ,001 ,528 ,000
*The mean difference is significant at the 0,05 level
The Wilcoxon Test revealed statistically significant increase in post-test scores except items 1, 6, 10, 12, 21, 22, 24, 25, 38, 44, 45, 46, 47, 49 and 55 (red-painted items) . Difference in item 41 was almost significant. 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 Learned nothing to Learned a lot. Perceived Levels of Learning refers to the mean scores of these self-assessments.
Graphic 3: Participants Perceived Levels of Learning
43
BAYER YOUNG SCIENCE AMBASSADORS The overall PLL mean score was 4,55 out of 5. Minimum score was 3,71 and maximum score was 4,96. These results 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
Participants overall mean score for technical conditions is 4,33. This score indicated that, in the eyes of the participants; the technical conditions were quite well except for meals. In Graphic 6, 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 the workshops with children.
Graphic - 6: Mean Scores for the Post-Training Items
44
BAYER YOUNG SCIENCE AMBASSADORS Conclusions and Recommendations There were three main objectives of the Scientific Literacy Training. First was enabling participants to reflect on their understanding of science, scientific knowledge, scientific practices and to develop curiosity about science. The other two, both acquisition of children centered approach and experiencing the experiments and their implementation procedures, were about developing participants competencies necessary for facilitating the 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 to understand the extent to which the training created a change in participants in terms of its expected outcomes and make suggestions for the following SLTs. In line with the objectives, the training had three main themes, namely Scientific Literacy, Working with Children and Experiments. Communication with Children, Who is the Child? and Rights Based Approach were the subthemes of Working with Children. Volunteerism, CVF and its principles were additional training themes. Discussions of the objectives were categorized under these headings. All the items under Communication with Children showed statistically significant difference (see Table 3 above). Half of the items under Rights Based Approach and Who is the Child? showed no significance (5 items out of 11). However, 4 of these statistically insignificant items had very high levels of pre-test scores (e.g. 9,30/10). These results suggested that participants had gained knowledge, acquired skills and attitudes necessary for working with children. In other words, participants;
understood the developmental characteristics of children more, did case studies on communication with children and improved their communication skills, acquired basics of 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.
Nevertheless our observations on the field and the outputs of EEFs and Evaluation Workshops suggested that facilitators needed more support in communicating with children and classroom management, especially in cases of conflicts. Again, all three items under Workshop Activities (Experiments) were found statistically significant. Moreover, items in the EQ 2 related with the experiments and facilitation of them (see Graphic 6, page 8) were scored quite high. This indicated that participants learned the objectives and implementation phases of experiments sufficiently. Notwithstanding, field observations revealed that participants needed to further read and study the Facilitators Book. 3 out of 15 Scientific Literacy items showed statistically significant difference. Participants began to think that science could be understood by everyone not just by scientists. Moreover, they began to see science as more enjoyable and fun than they did before training. Their opinions such as Scientific methods provide absolute proofs," Scientific methods can answer all the questions," There is no cultural diversity in scientific knowledge," Scientists have to work very hard," It might be very difficult for me to do scientific studies remained the same after the training. Furthermore, their ideas about the place and function of imagination in science were controversial. On one hand, they began to think that imagination and creativity were important in the formation of scientific knowledge and on the other hand no significant change was observed on the idea that there was no place for imagination in science.
45
BAYER YOUNG SCIENCE AMBASSADORS These results contradicted with the results of EQ 2. Participants were required to share 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 Being patient Observation Moderating experiments Versatile thinking Opinions and attitudes I will observe and examine the things around me more. Teamwork increases efficiency. I broke my prejudices against natural sciences. There is nothing to be afraid of science. I can be a scientist. Everyone can do science. My belief that science is absolute has changed. There is subjectivity in science.
Opinions that changed with the effect of the training provided evidence for the improvement of participants view of science. All but one of the items under Volunteerism, CVF and its principles were found statistically significantly different. This suggested that participants knew CVF and its principles better than they did before, learned basic concepts of volunteerism and relations among them, and could debate on volunteerism being aware of what they meant. We looked at the answers of the participants to the open-ended questions in the EQ -2 and outputs of the evaluation meeting held with trainers, project coordinator and consultant at the end of the training to evaluate the training process. Participants were satisfied with the technical conditions except for the meals (Graphic 5). The training hall not having windows was participants only negative feedback about technical conditions. The participants reported that the structure of the training was well-prepared and also flexible to the needs of the participants and their learning process. The best feature of the programs overall structure was the sessions being concordant and complementary with each other. Every session was linked with prior and following sessions. Participants reported that not only they didnt get bored but had fun during the training. At the same time, they thought that it was an intensive program, and they got tired occasionally. Few participants suggested to increase duration of the training and not to make sessions after dinner. They also asked for more sessions on approach to and communication with children, and more time to explore Istanbul.
46
BAYER YOUNG SCIENCE AMBASSADORS Very good, well up in their subject, well-prepared, coherent with each other, sincere, supportive, patient, understanding and attentive were the adjectives and expressions that participants used as they evaluated the trainers. Participants were asked whether they felt like being a facilitator in the project at the end of the training. 21 of 24 participants responded as Yes. 3 of them responded Yes, but I need support. This indicated that they were confident enough to facilitate the workshops. The most frequent post-training expectation of the participants was staying in touch and sharing experiences. Peer support, technical and moral support from the coordinator, support for improving communication with children and wish to disseminate the project were other expectations. These sort of expectations showed that participants were highly motivated at the end of the training. Additionally, visit of Bayer Turks representatives increased participants motivation, and their faith in the success of the project. Following topics and recommendations came to the fore in the post-training evaluation meeting with the training team. These outcomes would be meaningful to consider when designing the next SLT.
Spending two days instead of one for experiments. Planning 90 minutes sessions as if they take 75 minutes in order to spend more time for debriefing. Reviewing the sessions titled Communication with Children. Making agreement with the participants which creates the setting for the training at the beginning to reduce delays in the mornings. Reducing the lunch break to 1 hour. Sending participants some material such as a story, flyer, article, etc. to make them curious about the training. Providing a free afternoon for participants. Adding a session to the program about giving and receiving feedback. Having all the young volunteers participate in the training, not %60 percent of them.
Summing up, results of both EQ 1 and EQ - 2 confirmed that the training served its purposes. However, it would be useful to revise and restructure the sessions on Communicating with Children and Scientific Literacy for strengthening the impact of the training
Workshops
Between October 2011 and May 2012, 90 young volunteers and 1037 children joined the project in four cities; Istanbul, Izmir, Ankara and Kars, at 8 primary schools. (see BYSAP Final Report for further information). Four data collection instruments were developed to evaluate the workshop process. Exchange of Experiences Form (EEF), Field Visits - Evaluation Meetings, Posters children made and Letters children wrote. EEFs and Field Visits Evaluation Meetings also provided additional qualitative data for the assessment of Scientific Literacy Training (SLT).
47
BAYER YOUNG SCIENCE AMBASSADORS Exchange of Experiences As the project was implemented by four different youth organizations (project teams) in four cities it was important for the facilitators to be in contact and share their experiences. This was also the facilitators expectation at the end of SLT. Apart from the e-mail and Facebook groups, where the facilitators exchanged information, 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 and facilitators (see Annex 3). The other equally important function of EEFs was to provide qualitative data for process evaluation. 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, technical conditions, workshop objectives and suggestions for further workshops. A summary of data from 29 EEFs was presented below.
Personal Experience Facilitators felt anxious before their initial workshops. Their level of this kind of performance anxiety was quite natural and tended to decrease as they participated in more than one workshop. In addition, a considerable amount of facilitators reported that they also learned from the children. Teamwork Facilitators reported an overall satisfaction about the teamwork during the project. The most compelling evidence was the task-sharing. In most of the workshops they shared their roles and tasks by taking personal choices into consideration. Frequently, they assisted each other and felt as a team as a consequence during the workshops. In some few cases, especially when there were only one member who participated in the SLT and no preparation meeting was held, facilitators had difficulty in working as a team. Furthermore, as the facilitators got more experienced, felt less anxious and took enough time for proper preparation they shared their tasks in a more detailed and structured way, determining sub-categories for the tasks (such as preparation of materials, moderation of experiments, paying attention to childrens needs and classroom management ) and began to learn from each other Program They could do all of the experiments and all worked well unless they had difficulty in finding some materials such as white carnation, hot water, ice, etc. According to the facilitators, icebreakers, energizers and games used during the workshops played an important role in motivating and ensuring the children participate in the workshop Homemade Ice Cream and Colors Dancing in the Milk were facilitators most favorite experiments. Children (their contribution, motivation, interest, group dynamic, observed improvements) First of all, facilitators stated that children were quite exited, motivated and active during the workshops. They liked the experiments and enjoyed the workshops. Secondly, facilitators observed that children were really appreciative of their efforts if they cared enough and valued them. Most of the time they wanted to
48
BAYER YOUNG SCIENCE AMBASSADORS participate again the week after. Some of the facilitators were amazed by childrens curiosity and prior knowledge of the experiments. Moreover, children responded well when facilitators encouraged children to cooperate as they tended to work individually. On the other hand, some facilitators felt helpless when children who had previous experience with some particular experiments got bored and distracted against all their efforts. School Officials Principles and/or teachers were very helpful and supportive according to facilitators. They felt really welcomed. They had no unpleasant interactions with the officials. On only one occasion a teacher came in to see what was happening and gave instructions to children, which was stated as intrusive by facilitators. Technical Conditions Facilitators thought all the technical conditions were fine except some complaints about the classroom being cold. In one of the schools, the school lab was used for the first time. Facilitators felt happy to contribute to labs functioning. However, the setup of the lab was not suitable for small groups work. One of the teams self-criticized itself by reporting that they did not check the materials after the workshop properly. Evaluation of the workshops Facilitators were asked to evaluate the workshop based on its objectives (Do you think the workshop enabled children (1) to have an opinion about the nature of science, (2) to get more curious about science, (3) to get more willing to learn, question and reason?). They responses could be categorized under three headings; curiosity, changes in perception of science and increased interest in science. Some of the responses were quoted below. Yes, it really gets the children excited and motivated about science. They began to ask why and how questions. They ask questions and comment on the experiments. Their interest in science increases especially when we use examples from daily life during the discussions. I think the children will share what we did here when they get home. They said that they would use the booklets and do the experiments at home. The children who participated earlier workshops had told their friends about the experiments and they got interested and wondered about the experiments. I think they like science more than before. They saw that science was more fun than they thought it was. They realized that doing experiments and science was not that hard.
49
BAYER YOUNG SCIENCE AMBASSADORS Suggestions for Following Workshops When asked to make suggestions for the following workshops facilitators gave the following answers. It really gets exhausting at the end of the day, especially if the number of participants is high. Therefore, pay attention to number of the participants. Talk with the principal about number of the participants and parental permission letters. Parents who wish to participate in the workshop cause distraction for both the group and their own children. Find an appropriate way to keep them out of the classroom. Some of the children found some experiments simple, such as Do flowers drink water? and got distracted. More complicated, alternative experiments may be added to the workshop program. Book, TV shows and movie suggestions can be made for children. Check the materials after the workshop to see what you need for the following one. (See the section below for recommendations built up in the evaluation workshop for improving the implementation process). Field Visits and Evaluation Workshops with the Project Groups Two field visits were implemented by the project coordinator, project consultant and the evaluator in two primary schools, in Istanbul to make observations and collect data which was essential for the evaluation workshop. Observations were held under the headings Practice/Process, Content of the workshops and Communication with Children. With the data gathered with these field visits it became possible to monitor the ongoing implementation process, improve some of the practices and build up practical recommendations for the facilitators. With those in hand, a semi-structured evaluation workshop was held with the participation of 10 volunteers from Istanbul project team, project coordinator, consultant and evaluator for the purpose of;
Providing a space for the facilitators to share their experiences with each other and reflect on their work, Emphasizing the positive aspects of their works and hereby increasing the motivation of facilitators, Identifying areas for improvement and Collecting data for process evaluation.
In the evaluation workshop the participants were asked to reflect, brainstorm and write down on posters, what went good and what went bad during the workshops focusing on teamwork, program and experiments, relations with the school officials, children, classroom management/communication with children and technical conditions; working in small groups. The outputs were summarized below combined with our observations. Teamwork (+) Task-sharing - they are generally satisfied with the way they shared their tasks for the workshops 50
BAYER YOUNG SCIENCE AMBASSADORS Having a preparation meeting before the workshop day Making evaluation after the workshop (-) Difference between the facilitators who participated in the SLT and who didnt. Facilitators who participated in the SLT were expected to take more responsibility and guide other team members. The facilitators felt that the teamwork they had was satisfying and functional for the overall course of the workshops. Consistently, our observations suggests that in so far as the facilitators had a preparation meeting, shared their tasks before the workshop day and study the Facilitators Booklet they felt more confident and competent during the workshops. Program and experiments (+) Energizers and games performed between the experiments really helped the children to get together and get motivated. Facilitators had the chance to perform all the experiments in the program. (-) Experiment materials that could not be found, such as ice, hot water, carnation, caused some trouble in the sequence of the program. The carnations are hard to find and expensive. Difficulty in having the children to solve the puzzle in the program. Difficulty in answering some of the childrens questions related to the content of the experiments. Sometimes it really got exhausting towards the end of the day since they tried to do all the experiments in the program. Observations during the field visits revealed that the facilitators focused on the execution of the experiments and classroom management more than the debriefing sections where they were required to create a discussion, and encourage the children to ask questions and reflect on the related concepts and themes. Relations with the school officials Both project groups reported that the school officials showed great interest in the project, they were helpful most of the time and happy that the workshops took place in their schools. Children (+) Interested in the project, motivated to do experiments, curious, creative Sincere, respectful and happy to join the workshop (-) Had difficulty in teamwork; cooperate and tended to participate individually (selfishness, jealousy, fighting). Their wish to participate in the workshop again caused some trouble (Facilitators had a conflict between not turning down the previous participants and having new children to participate).
51
BAYER YOUNG SCIENCE AMBASSADORS Classroom management/communication with children Observations indicated that facilitators used the words and phrases such as we, friends, together as they spoke to children during the workshops which where the indicators of an inclusive and child centered approach. Although they tended to lose their temper and raise their voice to draw attention when they got too exhausted because of the noise children created they were aware of this behavior most of the time and try to readjust the way they communicated. They also tried to include all of the children in the course even if the children wanted to behave individually and not cooperate or tended stay out of the team. In line with what was observed, facilitators reported that they had some troubles when the children inclined to quarrel, fight or get distracted. This occurred especially with u-shaped classroom setup. Classroom setup adjusted in groups of 4-5 tables as suggested in the Facilitators Booklet allowed easier cooperative learning for the children. Areas for Improvement and Recommendations Two more field visits and evaluation meetings were conducted after the midterm evaluation report. In the light of observations during the field visits and outputs of evaluation workshops and meetings, participants, including project coordinator, consultant and evaluator, identified areas for improvement and built up recommendations for the next phase of the project. Those were as follows: i. Preparing an agreement together with children at the beginning of the workshops to ease classroom management and encourage the children to participate in workshops more (Agreement could be written on a poster and signed by all the participants and facilitators). ii. Giving more positive and clear instructions for the experiments iii. Positively reinforcing childrens questions and contributions by approving them and responding enthusiastically. iv. Paying particular attention to the debriefing questions. v. Using small group classroom setup for making experiments. vi. Having one facilitator for each small group. vii. Using u-shaped classroom setup and allow more time for debriefing. viii. Studying the Facilitators Booklet more carefully. ix. Making preparation meetings before the workshops, share roles and tasks more accurately. x. Making evaluation after the workshops and give feedback to each other. xi. Making two experiments a day instead of three or four to provide more time for communicating and connecting with children, and debriefing. In addition, verbal feedback of the facilitators and our observations suggested that weekends were more appropriate for the workshops since the schools are more silent and calmer than the weekdays. It provided more space and concentration both for the facilitators and the children. Project Evaluation Meeting On May 16th and 17th , Project Evaluation Meeting were held with the participation of 19 young volunteers (facilitators) from 4 TOG Youth Organizations, representatives of Bayer Turkey, project coordinator, consultant and evaluator. In this meeting, the outputs of the mid-term evaluation was presented by the 52
BAYER YOUNG SCIENCE AMBASSADORS evaluation expert. Participants did both evaluate the pilot year and shared their experiences with each other. Participants were asked to reflect on their own experience during the project focusing on four main headings. In the first session they reflected and discussed in small groups on What went well during the project. The positive experiences and aspects of the project facilitators gathered were presented below. Children, Were responsive and enthusiastic Expressed their ideas freely Got more interested in science and breaking their prejudices about science ( Both the children and facilitators) Participated in the agreement which was made at the beginning of the workshops Wished to participate in CVF Did the experiments on their own Actively participated in the workshops
Project Content and Scope
Exceeding the targeted number of participant children and volunteers during the project Experiments were interesting and intriguing Experiments were appropriate for the children Experiments were comprehensible and explicable Energizer games played for group dynamics worked well Facilitators also had fun doing the experiments and working with children The workshop booklet was comprehensible and attractive for children Agreement on workshop rules made with children at the beginning of the workshop eased classroom management and increased childrens participation Mutual knowledge exchange with children Facilitators also learned from children Relations with the school officials were fine At some schools, the officials provided a storage space for the materials Sufficient amount of financial resource for materials Letters and posters had positive effects on children in reflecting and thinking about the experience they had Task sharing before workshops Having one facilitator for each small groups in the workshops Feedbacks given and taken Elder brother-sister model worked well Both the facilitators and the children learned the concept of scientist
Materials
Experiment materials
53
Being able to keeping the materials at schools Project Posters The Childrens Booklet Interesting information in the childrens booklet were very stimulating for children in reading the booklet Lab coats Pins and stickers
Teamwork
Task/role sharing Communication and assistance within the team Using social media to share experiences (not supported by all teams) Meetings and Evaluations before and after the workshops Volunteer consistency (not supported by all teams) Prepare and settle the experiment materials before workshops Teams being apt to teamwork Interaction
Relations with the Project Coordinator and Project Partner
Field Visits during the project. Project coordinator, consultant and Bayer always made us feel supported Interest of school officials, families and teachers Scientific Literacy Training. It was both informative and fun To be able to reach the project coordinator instantly when needed Supportive project consultant Interest of media
In the second session, the facilitators tried to clarify areas for improvement.
Inconclusiveness, inefficiency or lack of evaluation meetings after workshops Not knowing how to receive and give feedback within teams Relations with school officials Communication with children Volunteer attendance and constancy Lack of communication and individual decision making Difficulty in finding facilitators for the weekend workshops Decrease in volunteers motivation due to workshop frequency Difficulty in explaining the concept of volunteerism to the children Transportation issues Insufficient time for debriefing
54
Some of the classes (labs) not being big enough to conduct the experiments. Using non environment friendly materials (e.g. Using coated paper for project posters, booklets, etc.) Inadequate number of facilitators in some workshops Lab coats arriving late Reimbursement ( facilitator wished to be reimbursed before expenditure) Finding ice and carnation Number of participating children being high Difficulty in supplying all the materials before workshops
In the third session, the facilitators figured out solutions and made recommendations for the areas needed to be improved. These recommendations were gathered under three main headings. For Technical Issues
Choosing schools that are easier to access (transportation) Reducing the size of the project posters Using recycled paper instead of coated paper for the project posters Using erasable pens on the posters used during the experiments in order to reuse the posters Checking the experiment materials after the workshop in order to be well-prepared for the next one Giving symbolic certificates to children for their participation Giving science ambassador ID to the facilitators who participates five workshops in a year in order to motivate and keep the volunteers in the project Checking the experiment materials before workshops Considering transportation and classroom (lab) conditions in determining the schools Workshop days should better be determined by collaboration of school officials and volunteers
Teamwork Communication within/between Teams
Improving project coordinators contact with all of the team members There should better be a volunteer in each team who will be in charge of the project Being alert to a hierarchical approach in the team Sharing information and decisions concerning the team with all of the team members Improving the inter organizational network; communication and know-how exchange by field visits Organizing social events and activities which will enhance volunteer motivation Organizing social events and activities to find new volunteers Facilitators must definitely make a preparation meeting, and share tasks and responsibilities before workshops General evaluation meetings should be more frequent
55
We should use the Exchange of Experiences Forms more efficiently
Content and Facilitation
Increasing the number of the experiments and creating an experiment pool Adding a section on volunteerism to the booklets (for children) Adding explanations of the technical terms to the booklets (for volunteers) Organizing periodic meetings to support young volunteers in terms of working with children and/or providing supervision. Organizing interim local trainings for incoming volunteers (especially on communication with children) Volunteers should make facilitation once in two weeks at most in order not to get exhausted Decreasing the number of experiments in the workshop program and spending more time for debriefing Sharing revisions and new methods used in the program with other local teams using social media and other communication channels Providing field visits for young volunteers to interact and learn from each other Promoting the project more within CVF Expanding the project by providing workshops in different cities Promoting the project at universities for the new volunteers to participate in the project Making periodic evaluation meetings within teams (EEFs of other teams may be reviewed in these meetings) Giving easy and interesting assignments to children at the end of the first day
When asked to evaluate the impact and function of Scientific Literacy Training (SLT) in their facilitation process the volunteers who participated in the training reported that SLT helped them to acquire significant skills which provided necessary frame during workshops and SLT is a must for the project. Volunteers who did not participate in SLT reported a significant worry and uneasiness especially at the beginning which later decreased with the help and encouragement of trained volunteers. However, volunteers agreed on two important major themes which are crucial for the next SLT; Communication/working with children and Teamwork. They demanded more in-depth sessions for communication and working with children. Considering the issues on teamwork they encountered during implementation, they suggested topics such as proper preparation before workshops, giving and receiving feedback and making effective evaluations to be included in SLT. One last recommendation was to prepare a mini guide including communication and working with children, especially for the incoming volunteers. The outputs of the evaluation meeting suggested that the project teams had divergent experiences during the project. Same situation could be quite problematic for one team and rather satisfying by another; basically depending on communication within the team, preparation before the workshops and teamwork. When these controversial outputs were brought together they pointed out two fundamental areas, beside technical conditions, which reframed the recommendations presented above. These were Communication and Working with Children, and Teamwork (including preparation for workshops, receiving and giving feedback, effective evaluation). 56
Letters and Posters Letters and Posters were the two instruments developed to collect data from the participants of workshops; the children. At the end of the first day of the workshops, children were instructed by the facilitators to prepare a poster in small groups and then present it to other participants as a team (see Annex 4 for an example). The purpose of the posters was twofold. First, it provided a tool for children to recall experiences they had during the day and share them with each other. Second, it provided qualitative data for evaluation, which supports the data collected by the letters. Some examples of childrens statements were presented below. It was a very nice and funny day. We did experiments, played games and became scientists here. I cant wait to come tomorrow. I thank to our entire elder sisters and brothers for coming here and helping us. All of us are scientists. We are young scientists. Science is great., Science is fun. I like science a lot; we learned a lot of things today. Science is a part of someones life. Science is making new contributions to the world. Science is discovering new things. Science is inventing new things that people can use. In addition to the aforementioned purposes of the posters it was observed that preparing and presenting posters in small groups helped children to experience more cooperation and teamwork. The main question asked with the letter was What kind of a scientist do you want to be?. Children were required to write a letter which described the kind of scientist they would like to be, what they would want to do and search as a scientist and why they chose those subjects (see Annex 5 for an example). 248 letters were gathered from 4th, 5th and 6th grade students. 124 of them were selected randomly for analysis; considering gender, grade and city distribution. 13 of the letters were excluded from analysis due to irrelevant data. The categories formed in the mid-term evaluation were refined with the assistance of project consultant. Childrens responses were gathered under 8 categories for the final analysis which were based on the objectives of the workshops. In Graphic 7, the overall distribution of the 276 responses were presented.
57

Graphic 7: Overall Distribution of Childrens Responses to the Letter
Graphic 7 demonstrated that children got highly motivated for being a scientist, got curios, had increased interest in science, had fun and began to express their creativity; consistent with the findings of posters. They also began to appreciate science in terms of using it as a tool for a better life and understanding nature. In addition, a considerable amount of responses were about their appreciation of the workshops and facilitators. Facilitators as role models refers to childrens wish to disseminate what they had learned like the facilitators. Examples of childrens responses were; I want to be a professor when I grow up., I really want to do experiments, research and be a scientist., I want to be a scientist when I grow up., I want to be a scientist who invents new drugs for people (Motivation for being a scientist) I am really curious about the space and planets and I will like to make observations, Being a scientist means being curious, I want to make research about Mars, Neptun, Jupiter, Gladia 581, I learned that science can actually be fun because the experiments were fun to do, I want to do more experiments and research more, I want to understand how the internet connection works or how we send SMS via cell phones (Curiosity and Interest in Science) We played games and had fun, The experiments were very enjoyable., I can play games and have fun as I do science, During these two days we both had fun and learned, The experiments we did today were so much fun (Fun) I want to discover alternative ways of flying., I want to invent glasses which clean itself. I want to invent a flying car and a machine that changes my clothes., I want to invent a time machine., I want to invent a flying car and bring an alien out of space., I would invent a computer which could read my mind., I would invent a toaster which could prepare a breakfast, I am going to invent a drink called limola, which is made of lemon and carnage, If I were a scientist I would like to travel around the word like an Explorer., (Creativity/Discovery ) I want to be a scientist and help people who have cancer, The Tv I am going to invent will help old people to easily choose channels they want to watch, When I become a scientist I will contribute to the well being of people, I will be a scientist who will invent things that will solve people's problems, I would discover something which will be useful for people and the environment, I would invent an smart board so that our
58
BAYER YOUNG SCIENCE AMBASSADORS teachers wouldn't get tired, I can't think of a life without science, One who researches acquires information and learns new things., One finds out what he/she looks for by science. (Appreciation of Science) We loved you very much., I am proud to meet you and spend time with you., It was a great day., It's a great chance to learn all of these at this age., I wish you would come every week, Thank you so much for coming and doing all of these experiments with us, I thank all of the elder brothers and sisters who did experiments with us, Our elder sisters and brothers helped us learn new things (Gratification and Gratitude) I want to do experiments and play games with children when I grow up because I liked the experiments we did today very much., I want to be well-informed and intelligent like you., I want to teach experiments to other students, I want to be like you and teach experiments, I want to teach these experiments to my own children in the future, I want to teach what I have learned to others (Facilitators as role models) An additional finding that should be emphasized was the using of the word bilim insan instead of bilim adam. In Turkish, bilim adam refers to a male scientist. Using bilim adam causes and is a sign of gender discrimination. All children, with a few exceptions, used bilim insan to refer to scientists in their letters. Posters and Letters yielded the results below:
Children did really enjoy doing experiments and playing games. They were excited and motivated. They got more curious. They their interest in science increased. They were able to express their creativity. They were grateful to the facilitators for the activities and the day. They recalled and depicted almost all of the experiments they did during the workshop on posters. They learned something new through the workshop. Their perception of science began to chance in the desired direction. They began to like science more and see the fun in it. They began to imagine themselves as scientists.
59
Conclusions and Recommendations

The assessment of the projects performance was evaluated as described above. According to the evaluation results BYSAP met or been planning to meet the key objectives presented in the project documents. This is largely due to the effective project management team that is executing the project plus a well-designed and specified project plan.
Between Oct 2011 and May 2012,
Project team was built up by project coordinator. Project Content was prepared and booklets for young science ambassadors and for children were written by the project consultant. Tools for monitoring and evaluation of the project were designed by the external expert. 24 Young TOG volunteers participated in the Scientific Literacy Training that took place in Istanbul. 24 young science ambassadors shared their knowledge and experiences with the other volunteers in their local communities in order to expand the project team and reach more primary school children. In total, 90 young science ambassadors (target was 40) reached 1037 children (target was 900), in 8 schools (target was 4), at the end of May 2012. A Press Conference organized by Bayer Turkey with the attendance of TOG and young science ambassadors in Dec 2012. A Science Workshop was carried out by 8 young science ambassadors at TOG 19.Youth Council where approximately 300 young volunteers participated. A training for Bayer employees was designed and carried out with the participation of 50 employees. A Science Workshop was carried out for Bayer employees' children where approximately 100 children participated in. Field visits to local project groups were done by TOG, Bayer Turkey and media representatives. On 3rd of March, young science ambassadors made a science workshop for the student in Sapanca organized a team building project to make a difference Young science ambassadors presented the project in Kocaeli International Children Festival where 1000 children from 41 countries participated between April 20 th and 23rd. A Semi-structured Evaluation Meeting with 10 young science ambassadors was organized by project team. With full participation of the project local project teams, an overall evaluation meeting for the project was held in May 2012.
24 young volunteers from 4 different CVF Youth Organizations participated in the Scientific Literacy Training; the main training in the project. In this training, young volunteers (Young Science Ambassadors) reflected on their understanding of science, scientific knowledge and practice, and developed curiosity about science. Moreover, they developed competencies necessary for facilitating the workshops they implemented during the project with children. In other words, young science ambassadors;
Learned about the characteristics of scientific knowledge.

60
Reflected on their prejudices on scientific knowledge and practice. Got willing to question, reason and understand the happenings and facts in nature. Experienced the activities (experiments) of the workshops they would facilitate in the primary schools. Understood the objectives of the workshop activities. Gained knowledge about the implementation steps of the workshop activities. Got familiar with the Facilitators Booklet they would use during the project. Learned the developmental characteristics of children, Did case studies on communication with children and improved their communication skills Learned children centered approach. Got to know CVF, and its principles better than they did before. Learned basic concepts of volunteerism and relations among them, and could debate on volunteerism being aware of what they meant.
In addition, results of Exchange of Experiences Forms, field visits and evaluation workshop indicated that facilitators needed more support in communicating with children and classroom management. They also needed to read and study the Facilitators Book more carefully. 76 young science ambassadors and 275 children joined the project between Sep 2011 - Feb 2012 in four cities. Each project group started the workshops at distinct times since getting the legal permissions from Directorates of Education took different durations in each city. Results of Posters and Letters demonstrated the effects of the workshops on children. Children who participated in the workshops;
Had fun doing experiments. Began to like science more and to see the fun in it. Got excited and motivated about doing experiments and being scientists. Got more curious about science and technology. Had increased interest in science. Were able to express their creativity. Began to imagine themselves as scientists. Began to question the happenings and facts around them. Showed gratitude to the facilitators for the activities and the day. Got willing to disseminate what they had learned.
Trying to understand the interrelations between science, technology, society and environment, questioning their own prejudices about science and scientists, and understanding and appreciating the value of science and technology were seemed as difficult to reach objectives for these workshops so far, considering their duration and context. A long term implementation (for example, a six-week program instead of two days) was needed for such objectives to be realized. As a result of this evaluation the following recommendations were made to improve the implementation strategy and to strengthen the impact of the project. Recommendations are grouped under three main headings; SLT, Workshops and General Recommendations.
61
BAYER YOUNG SCIENCE AMBASSADORS SLT (Scientific Literacy Training)
Spending two days instead of one for experiments. Planning 90 minutes sessions as if they take 75 minutes in order to spend more time for debriefing. Reviewing the sessions on Communication with Children. Making agreement with the participants which creates the setting for the training at the beginning to reduce delays in the mornings. Reducing the lunch break to 1 hour. Sending participants some material such as a story, flyer, article, etc. to make them curious about the training. Providing a free afternoon for participants. Adding sessions to the program including the topics preparation for workshops, giving and receiving feedback, making effective evaluation meetings and working as a team.
Workshops and Facilitation Preparing an agreement together with children at the beginning of the workshops to ease classroom management and encourage the children to participate in workshops more (Agreement could be written on a poster and signed by all the participants and facilitators). Giving more positive and clear instructions for the experiments. Positively reinforcing childrens questions and contributions by approving them, and responding enthusiastically. Paying particular attention to the debriefing questions. Making two experiments a day instead of three or four to provide more time for communicating and connecting with children, and debriefing. Using small group classroom setup for making experiments. Having one facilitator for each small group. Using u-shaped classroom setup and allow more time for debriefing. Studying the Facilitators Booklet more carefully. Making preparation meetings before the workshops, sharing roles and tasks more accurately. Making evaluation after the workshops and giving feedback to each other.
General
Conducting two SLTs to ensure all the young volunteers participate in the training, not %60 percent of them, to ensure that they all have competencies necessary for facilitating the workshops. Providing field visits for young volunteers to interact and learn from each other. Organizing periodic meetings to support young volunteers specifically in terms of working with children and/or providing supervision. Organizing social events and activities which will enhance volunteer motivation Promoting active use of Exchange of Experiences Forms and other interaction channels of the project (social media and mailing groups) to improve the network among local project teams
62
BAYER YOUNG SCIENCE AMBASSADORS Conclusively, based on the data gathered so far, evaluation results showed that BYSAP was planned and implemented in a way that led to (1) an increased curiosity and interest in science; scientific knowledge and practice, (2) significant change in perception of science, scientific practice and scientists in its target groups.
63
Form No: __________
ANNEX -1
BAYER SCIENCE AMBASSADORS SCIENTIFIC LITERACY TRAINING

30 November 4 December 2011, ISTANBUL
EVALUATION QUESTIONNAIRE - I
This form is developed in order to evaluate the training; to figure out the extent to which the training objectives are met. Your contributions will help us to further develop the training. Thank you in advance for your sincere responses. No names needed. Your Age: ____________ Your Gender: _____________ Your major:_______________________
- Please asses the items using the scale below and write down your scores in the columns next to the items.
1. Dont know at all/Cant do at all/Strongly disagree...........................10.Know completely/Can do completely/Strongly agree

A 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 All individuals aged between 0-18 are children. I know the aims of TOG. Volunteerism has diverse definitions. I know what rights based work with children means. I know how to express what I mean to a child. Scientific methods provide absolute proofs. I know the mechanisms for participating in decision making processes in TOG. Volunteerism is a way of civic participation. I know the developmental characteristics of children aged between 7-14. The child is an individual with rights. I know the essential values of working with children. Only highly educated scientists understand science. I can focus childrens attention to a specific issue during the workshops. I know how TOG functions. I know the difference among volunteerism, helpfulness and charity. It can be fun to work in a science lab. I can manage an approach appropriate to the childrens developmental characteristics. While facilitating a workshop with children process is more important than the product. I know the principles of TOG. I may not make big discoveries but studying science can be fun. There is no imagination in science. I can inform people about TOGs aims. I know what active participation means. Every child is different than the other. Scientific methods can answer all the questions. A child is an individual, for whom an environment which allows his/her active participation must be created. I can think of myself in childrens state and conditions while working with them. I can specify the source of a problem during the workshops. B C
29 I know what kind of opportunities TOG provides for young people (e.g. scholarships, counseling, internship, EVS, etc.). 30 I can debate on volunteerism being aware of what I mean. 64
A 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 Every single child develops with his/her distinctive developmental phase. Electronic devices are indeed the examples of valuable products of science I know what children centered approach refers to. Most people can understand science. I know about the activities of TOG. I can create an environment which suits the needs of children I work with. I know what may cause communication failures while working with children. Scientists do not have enough time for their families or for fun. I can inform people about how TOG functions. I can solve a presenting problem while working with children. Scientific knowledge includes subjectivity. I can inform people about the principles of TOG. I know the impact of active participation. All children have equal opportunity to participate in the workshops and no discrimination is allowed for any reason. Scientific study is boring. There is no cultural diversity in scientific knowledge. Each child has different abilities and aptitudes. I know how to act if any problems occur during the workshops with children. It might be very difficult for me to do scientific studies. I can inform people about TOGs activities. I can create an environment in which the children can easily share their thoughts and feelings. Imagination and creativity are important in the formation of scientific knowledge. Each child has a unique way of expressing him/herself. I know which precautions to I can take for an adverse situation not to occur while facilitating the workshops. Scientists have to work very hard. I have the skills necessary for facilitating the workshops.
57. Have you ever participated in a training with the theme Scientific Literacy before? Yes No If yes; please write the name(s) and duration(s) of the training(s):
58. Have you ever participated in a training with the theme Working with Children before? Yes No If yes; please write the name(s) and duration(s) of the training(s):
59. Please use this field (and the back page) to add any other comments that you would like.
Thank you for your participation... Erhan Okak 65
ANNEX - 2
BAYER SCIENCE AMBASSADORS SCIENTIFIC LITERACY TRAINING
30 November 4 December 2011, ISTANBUL
EVALUATION QUESTIONNAIRE - II
1. Please evaluate the sessions of the training in the table below, reflecting on how much you learned in each session.
Welcome Evening Project Introduction, Expectations Civil Society and TOG Volunteerism Child and Child Development TOG Principles Communication with Children Attitudes Towards Children Bayer - Our Stakeholder Scientific Literacy I Scientific Literacy 2 Activities Day Do flowers drink water? Let's build a thermometer Colors dancing in the milk The Screaming Balloons Is black really black? Homemade Ice Cream Chemistry of Red Cabbage Open Chair Who are We? Hereafter Daily Evaluation Sessions Use this space if you have any comments for the sessions.
66
2. Please evaluate the technical conditions.
Information about the training given before by the organizers Transportation Accommodation Meals Meeting Hall Use this space if you have any comments for technical conditions.
3. Could you draw a symbol representing your experience through the training?
4. Please evaluate overall structure and flow of the program?
5. Please write your comments about the trainers.
67
6. What are your expectations from your peers, trainers and TOG after the training?
7. Please evaluate your own contribution and contribution of the participants to the training? Participants Contribution: Your Contribution:
8. Do you feel ready enough to facilitate the workshops?
9. Please evaluate the items below. At the end of this training;
I can explain how each experiment will be implemented I know how I can use the Facilitators' Booklet I know the implementation steps of the experiments I will facilitate I know the objectives of the experiments I will facilitate during the workshops
68
10. Do you have any skills you acquired or improved during the training? If so, please share them briefly.
11. Do you have any opinions/attitudes that changed during the training? If so, please share them briefly.
12. Please share anything you would like to add.
THANKS!!
69
BAYER YOUNG SCIENCE AMBASSADORS PROJECT EXCHANGE OF EXPERIENCES FORM for the FACILITATORS
Workshop Info Me: Which activity?: My team: Duration of the activity: Date, School, City:
Me (your feelings, opinion, contributions, what you have gained, your dissatisfactions and your satisfactions before, during and after the activity, etc.)
Teamwork and Distribution of Tasks (number of team members, how did you share the tasks, how do you evaluate the work/activity, what were the positive and negative sides?)
Technical Conditions (materials, hall where the workshop took place, logistics, heat, etc.)
Program (which activities did you perform, the ones that went well, ones did not go so well and ones went poorly, etc.)
70
Participants (children) (their contribution to the workshop, their motivation, group dynamics, your observations based on workshop objectives, etc.)
Relations with the school officials
Your suggestions for the forthcoming workshops
How do you evaluate/assess this workshop on the basis of promoting (1) childrens knowledge on the nature of science, (2) their curiosity and interest on the scientific and technologic events/ facts/phenomena and (3) their will for understanding, questioning, and reasoning?
Anything you would like to share besides the former titles/headings
Thank you for your contribution!!
71
ANNEX 4
Sample poster
72
ANNEX 5
Sample Letter
73
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 http://www.tog.org.tr
74

Bayer Genç Bilim Elçileri - Final Raporu

Caricato da

Informazioni sul documento

Copyright

Formati disponibili

Condividi questo documento

Condividi o incorpora il documento

Opzioni di condivisione

Hai trovato utile questo documento?

Questo contenuto è inappropriato?

Copyright:

Formati disponibili

Bayer Genç Bilim Elçileri - Final Raporu

Caricato da

Copyright:

Formati disponibili

BAYER YOUNG SCIENCE AMBASSADORS

BAYER YOUNG SCIENCE AMBASSADORS

BAYER YOUNG SCIENCE AMBASSADORS PROJECT SUMMARY

Targeted 4 TOG organization 4 primary schools 900 1800 24 2724

Achieved 5 TOG organization 8 primary schools 1037 2074 90 3201

Implementation Area stanbul, Ankara, zmir and Kars

BAYER YOUNG SCIENCE AMBASSADORS

BAYER YOUNG SCIENCE AMBASSADORS

Project Partners Ministry of Education Bayer Turk TOG Vakf

BAYER YOUNG SCIENCE AMBASSADORS What children think and share:

Scientific Literacy Training

BAYER YOUNG SCIENCE AMBASSADORS Experiment 5:

BAYER YOUNG SCIENCE AMBASSADORS SCIENTIFIC LITERACY TRAINING

BAYER YOUNG SCIENCE AMBASSADORS PRESS CONFERENCE

BAYER YOUNG SCIENCE AMBASSADORS SCIENCE WORKSHOP

BAYER YOUNG SCIENCE AMBASSADORS

PROJECT TRAINING FOR BAYER EMPLOYEES

BAYER YOUNG SCIENCE AMBASSADORS

SCIENCE WORKSHOP FOR BAYER EMPLOYEES CHILDREN

BAYER YOUNG SCIENCE AMBASSADORS FIELD VISITS

BAYER YOUNG SCIENCE AMBASSADORS BYSA in KOCAELI INTERNATIONAL CHILDREN FESTIVAL

BAYER YOUNG SCIENCE AMBASSADORS

BAYER YOUNG SCIENCE AMBASSADORS

PROJECT EVALUATION MEETING

BAYER YOUNG SCIENCE AMBASSADORS

Haber Trk 14.05.2012

BAYER YOUNG SCIENCE AMBASSADORS

BAYER YOUNG SCIENCE AMBASSADORS 10.05.2012 - Ege Telgraf, zmir

BAYER YOUNG SCIENCE AMBASSADORS

BAYER YOUNG SCIENCE AMBASSADORS

BAYER YOUNG SCIENCE AMBASSADORS

Erhan Okak Monitoring&Evaluation Expert Psychologist, MA

BAYER YOUNG SCIENCE AMBASSADORS

BAYER YOUNG SCIENCE AMBASSADORS

BAYER YOUNG SCIENCE AMBASSADORS

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

BAYER YOUNG SCIENCE AMBASSADORS

For Workshops and Facilitation

BAYER YOUNG SCIENCE AMBASSADORS

BAYER YOUNG SCIENCE AMBASSADORS

BAYER YOUNG SCIENCE AMBASSADORS

Aims and Scope of the Project

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

BAYER YOUNG SCIENCE AMBASSADORS

Scientific Literacy Training (SLT)

BAYER YOUNG SCIENCE AMBASSADORS

Beginning of the training

End of the training

Figure 1: Evaluation Plan for SLT

BAYER YOUNG SCIENCE AMBASSADORS

Mean Pre-test Post-test Revised Pre-test 7,50 8,64 6,98

Std. Deviation ,748 ,399 1,46

BAYER YOUNG SCIENCE AMBASSADORS

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

Project Content and Scope

BAYER YOUNG SCIENCE AMBASSADORS

Relations with the Project Coordinator and Project Partner

BAYER YOUNG SCIENCE AMBASSADORS

Teamwork Communication within/between Teams

BAYER YOUNG SCIENCE AMBASSADORS

We should use the Exchange of Experiences Forms more efficiently

Content and Facilitation

BAYER YOUNG SCIENCE AMBASSADORS

BAYER YOUNG SCIENCE AMBASSADORS