Examination and Evaluation of Websites of Science Centres in Turkey

Year 2016, Special Issue 2016 II, 71 - 79, 01.02.2016

Aykut Emre Bozdoğan , Kerem Bozdoğan

https://doi.org/10.17275/per.16.spi.2.8

Abstract

Science
centres which have a considerable importance and functions in developed
countries are intended to be popularized in Turkey. At this point considering
the fact that the first contact between science centres and visitors is usually
provided with websites, it is quite important that the content of these
websites should be designed and developed to meet the needs of the
visitors.  From this point of view, the
aim of this study is to examine the websites of the science centres in Turkey
and to reveal at what level they meet the needs of the visitors. The research
study was carried out via descriptive survey method and between September 14
and September 18, 2015 the key word “science centre” was searched on Google.
Out of the science centres found, twelve science centres were included in the
study. During the process of analysis of the documents obtained, two
researchers examined every single data on the website separately and then they
combined and tabulated them.  Within this
context, four main titles were obtained: a) information and news b) activities
and the documents, c) Visuals, and d) Contact, Appointment, and Booking. At the
end of the study, it was determined that under some circumstances the websites
of the science centres were useful, where as they were inadequate under some
conditions

Keywords

Science Centre, Website, Informal Learning, Science Education

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