Introduction "Science is more than a school subject, or the periodic table, or the properties of waves. It is an approach to the world, a critical way to understand and explore and engage with the world, and then have the capacity to change that world..." a famous quote by President Barack Obama (March, 2015). For many years, students have had a hard time grasping the information taught in science education. Not only have students lost interest in the content, their test scores have also plummeted. Thus, it is important to find a new alternative on how to engage students and enhance their learning on science. Informal education has been becoming popular in today's society which is why it is extremely important to understand the effects it …show more content…
The first key component that can affect students' achievements in science education is the increase in students' intellectual skills, such as, inquiry skills, knowledge on facts and principles, and conceptual understanding (Whitesell, 9). For example, when students go on field trips they tend to become more engaged thus, maintaining attention and increasing participation because the content is being taught kinesthetically. Hence, keeping the students entertained when learning the curriculum helps them connect to the content, which makes it easier to retain. Whereas, when students are learning the content inside a formal classroom setting they become bored and forget the content due to not being able to connect the subject to anything. Thus, making the information harder to comprehend. However, when students are able to make real-life connections to the information being taught they are able to remember the concepts for longer periods of time. The second key component that can affect student achievements in science education is that it may increase students' affective characteristics, such as, interest or motivation in science which can improve students' behavior (Whitesell, 9). For instance, when students' are more interested in science it can promote greater participation inside the classroom or help students' become more involved in challenging programs and projects that correlates to science content. Changes in positive behavior towards science content can increase students' performance on standardized science tests because, students are able to focus and execute more effort on the test due to being able to comprehend the information. Another way changed behaviors on science can help influence academic