DETERMINATION OF PERCEPTIONS OF PRIMARY SCHOOL STUDENTS ABOUT ENVIRONMENTAL PROBLEMS

45714

In this study it was aimed to determine the perceptions of 4th grade students about environmental concepts. Sixty-nine primary school students (35 girls and 34 boys) studying at a public school were the participants of this study. The study is a descriptive study. Data were gathered through word association test (WAT). In preparation of WAT, “environment”, “air pollution”, “water pollution”, “soil pollution”, “noise pollution”, “waste”, and “recycling” were determined as keywords. Students were asked to write the first word about the keyword that came into their minds. In data analysis responses to each keyword were listed and their frequencies were determined also relatedness coefficients of keywords were calculated. According to findings of the study students were mostly related environment to tree, nature, and flower. Human is one of the most common words that students responded for each given keyword and it was understood that they give importance to human-environment relation in their environmental perception. Besides students mostly related “recyling” and “waste” keywords while “noise pollution” has the weakest relations with other keywords.

732

Environment , primary school student , word association test , environmental pollution

Abant İzzet Baysal Üniversitesi Eğitim Fakültesi Dergisi

744

Abant İzzet Baysal Üniversitesi Eğitim Fakültesi Dergisi