Investigation of middle school students’ thoughts about a mobile planetarium activity

Abstract

In this study, students’ thoughts about a mobile planetarium activity were obtained through aletter writing exercise. Document analysis was used to analyse 163 letters by way of content analysis. Thestudy group consisted of 163 students (5th, 6th, 7th and 8th grades) from a middle school in adisadvantaged area of Ankara, Turkey. Analysis of the letters was grouped as what was learnt from theplanetarium activity, feelings and thoughts about the planetarium environment, benefits of the activity,and other feelings and thoughts. The students stated that they were generally satisfied with the event,that they enjoyed the activity, were excited, and found it to be extremely fun. Moreover, their interestsand curiosity increased due to the activity. The students’ thoughts about the out-of-class activitygenerated positive feedback and provided effective suggestions for the implementation of similaractivities in the future