Marife Turkish Journal of Religious Studies

Abstract

Out-of-school learning can be defined as education conducted outside the school to teach effectively, to concretize abstract knowledge, and to raise awareness about human and environmental relations in accordance with the learning outcomes in the curriculum. Out-of-school learning is not a random effort or action, but rather a form of learning that consists of pre-planned and structured educational activities under the leadership of a teacher or guide within the scope of the curriculum. In this context, libraries, parks, planetariums, religious places, historical buildings, science centres, museums, nursing homes, foster care centres, humanitarian aid organizations are places that can be used for education within the scope of the normal curriculum. It is noticeable that out-of-school learning, which has been used in every field from past to present, including war and hunting training, academic, vocational and religious education, has increased in value day by day in today's educational understanding and has taken its place in schools as a teaching method. In parallel with this, it is clearly seen that many national and international qualitative, quantitative or mixed-method studies have been conducted on out-of-school learning in various aspects. When the literature is examined, it is possible to say that studies are mostly concentrated on courses such as science, geography and history. It is concluded that there is a need to conduct research on out-of-school learning in religious education as in these courses. As it is of great importance to investigate issues such as whether out-of-school learning in religious education has a significant effect on achieving the outcomes, what the positive and negative aspects of the practices are, and what kind of learning it enables on a scientific basis. It is seen that some studies have been conducted in religious education, but the fact that these studies are only in the Religious Culture and Moral Knowledge course and that their study areas are limited has aroused the opinion that there is a need for a more comprehensive study in terms of both method and content, and it was decided to conduct this study. It can be said that this study, which is the first study conducted in the field of Imam Hatip high school vocational courses and which differs from the others by being conducted in a mixed method, fills a serious gap in the field. For the research, the course of Rhetoric and Professional Practice and the units of sermon and preaching, mosque music in religious services and funeral etiquette were preferred. This study aims to investigate the effect of out-of-school learning environments in religious education on the level of achievements of the learning outcomes in the example of Rhetoric and Professional Practice course. The main problem of the research is "What is the effect of out-of-school learning environments on the level of realization of the outcomes of religious education in the example of the Imam Hatip High School Rhetoric and Professional Practice course?". In the study conducted according to the convergent parallel design, quantitative data were obtained from pre-test, post-test and retention tests applied to an experimental and a control group; qualitative data were obtained from student diaries, student interview forms and observation records made during the experiment. The study group of the research consisted of 44 male students, 22 in the experimental group and 22 in the control group, studying in the 11th grade at Malatya Anatolian Imam Hatip High School. Within the scope of out-of-school learning activities, a trip was made to Malatya Eyüp Sultan Mosque for the Khutba and Sermon unit, Malatya Kernek Karagözlüler Mosque for the Mosque Music unit, and Malatya Metropolitan Municipality City Cemetery for the Funeral Manners unit. The quantitative and qualitative data obtained in the study were combined and evaluated under three headings: the effect of out-of-school learning on academic achievement, the quality of out-of-school learning and the psychological impact of out-of-school learning. In the evaluations, it was concluded that out-of-school learning increased academic achievement; provided more permanent, meaningful and effective learning in terms of quality; enabled more focus on lessons with an enjoyable, hands-on learning environment; and psychologically had positive effects such as making them have sympathy, motivating and exciting, encouraging practice and instilling self-confidence.