Investigation of pre-service teachers' knowledge levels, attitudes and behaviors towards environmental problems

ABSTRACT: The aim of this research is to examine the knowledge levels, attitudes and behaviors of prospective teachers towards environmental problems. The research was conducted with prospective teachers studying in the departments of Science Education, Social Studies Education, Classroom Education and Preschool Education at the faculty of education of a university located in the Afyon region of our country in the fall semester of the 2022-2023 academic year. A total of 673 prospective teachers in the 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th grades were studied. Easily accessible case sampling and quantitative screening method were used. "Environmental Knowledge Test", "Behavior Scale Towards Environmental Problems" and "Attitude Scale Towards Environmental Problems" were used in the study. Computer environment was used statistically for the quantitative data obtained from prospective teachers. Kruskal-Wallis and Mann-Whitney U tests were used. In this study, knowledge, attitudes and behaviors were evaluated according to some variables. In the study, it was observed that environmental education did not create significant positive differences in environmental knowledge, attitudes and behaviors. It is thought that it will contribute to environmental education studies.