Although careers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics have expanded in the United States, science literacy skills for K-12 students have declined from 2001 to 2011. Limited research has been conducted on the impact of science enrichment programs on the science literacy skills of K-12 students, particularly in marine science. The purpose of this study was to describe the impact of a marine science summer enrichment camp located in the eastern region of the United States on the ocean literacy skills of middle school students who participated in this camp. Weimar's learner centered teaching approach and the definition and principles of ocean literacy formed the conceptual framework. The central research question focused on how a marine science summer enrichment camp impacted the ocean literacy skills of middle grade students. A single case study research design was used with ten participants including 3 camp teachers, four students, and 3 parents of Grade 6-8 students who participated this camp in 2016. Data were collected from multiple sources including individual interviews of camp teachers, students, and parents, as well as camp documents and archival records. A constant comparative method was used to construct categories, determine emergent themes and discrepant data. Results indicated that the marine science camp positively impacted the ocean literacy skills of middle school students through an emphasis on a learner centered instructional approach. The findings of this study may provide a positive social impact by demonstrating active science literacy instructional strategies for teachers which can motivate students to continue studies in science and science related fields.

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This dissertation focuses on non-formal education. It describes science camps with a geological topics which are non-formal events that may be visited by children and youth during their initial education. The aim of this thesis is to describe concepts of science (geological) camps and learn about the specific knowledge, skills and interests of their participants in the field of geology. The thesis is introduced in four independent studies which describe a completed mixed research and a solution by the researched targets. Camp groups from five non-formal educational institutions in the Czech Republic were examined. The analysis of camp concepts took place with instructors (N=21) during ten camp sessions. Thereafter two alternative content of camps were established: a field laboratory concept and a concept with equally represented focus on the participants' activity. In this part of research the questionnaires with open-ended questions were used, which were directed at instructors' statements about scientific and educational activities of participants. A data collection for the analysis observing specific geological knowledge, skills and interests of participants always took place at the beginning and at the end of the nine or ten camp sessions. Questionnaires (N=143 knowledge, skills; N=138...