Environmental awareness in the preschool period: Development of the wild animal awareness test

The aim of this research is to develop a valid and reliable measurement tool titled "Environmental Awareness in Early Childhood: Wild Animal Awareness Test." This study was conducted using a quantitative research method. A survey design was adopted, and the data were collected from children in the 5–6 age group. The study sample was determined through a convenience sampling method, considering accessibility and ease of implementation. The study group consisted of 229 children aged 5–6 years who were attending independent kindergartens affiliated with the Directorate of National Education in Sakarya province. A total of six kindergartens located in the central districts of Sakarya participated in the study. As data collection tools, the researcher developed the Wild Animal Awareness Test, whose validity and reliability analyses were conducted, a Personal Information Form to collect demographic information about the children, and a Checklist used during the implementation process. The developed test includes a total of 8 wild animals, each with distinct characteristics. For each animal, 5 questions accompanied by relevant visuals were prepared, resulting in a total of 40 questions in the test. These questions aim to measure children's awareness of the animals' identification, habitats, feeding behaviors, footprints, and fecal characteristics. Expert opinions were obtained from three early childhood education specialists, one Turkish language education specialist, and one assessment and evaluation expert for each item. Following expert reviews, statistical analyses were conducted to determine the validity and reliability of the test. These analyses were carried out using SPSS 27.0 software. For data analysis, content validity was used in the validity analysis, and KR-20 reliability analysis, item difficulty, and item discrimination indices were used in the reliability analysis. Based on the findings, it was concluded that the developed Wild Animal Awareness Test is a valid and reliable measurement tool. As a result, this test is considered an effective assessment tool for determining the level of environmental awareness regarding wild animals in children aged 5–6 years.