Investigation of the effect of secondary school students' participation in educational open space recreative activities on environmental attitude (Sakarya province case study)

The aim of this study is to examine the effect of secondary school students' participation in educational outdoor recreational activities on environmental attitudes (Sakarya Province Case Study) and to determine the difference in their sensitivity levels. Environmental awareness is a phenomenon that concerns the whole society and whose effects may affect future generations and perhaps the whole world. The literature reveals that there is a direct relationship between environmental awareness and environmental education. These trainings help children develop cognitive (knowing, understanding, perceiving, being aware), affective (emotions related to feelings such as anger, liking and sadness) and psycho-motor (coordination, i.e. coordination between the body, muscles, mind and the work to be done, which requires multiple organs to work together at the same time) skills. Addresses learning areas. The formation of these values in children means environmental protection and environmentally friendly behaviors. In order to leave our children a livable world and a more qualified life in every aspect in the future, environmental protection education should be supported. 110 subjects studying at Mehmet Sadık Eratik Secondary School in Sakarya province Serdivan District participated in the study voluntarily in the 2021-2022 academic year. The students in the experimental group participated in a total of 24 (12 theoretical and 12 practical) outdoor recreational activities once a week (one theoretical and one practical) for 12 weeks. Theoretical lessons were given for 1 hour and practical lessons for 2 hours, and in the theoretical lessons, only information about the introduction, safety and movement styles related to the activity to be implemented that week was given. As a tool to collect the data, the "Personal Information Form" and a total of four sub-dimensions of '' Environmental Attitude Scale for Secondary School Students" was applied as pre-test and post-test. SPSS 23 program was used to analyze the data. In the study, t-test was used for comparisons between two independent groups, and paired sample t-test analyzes were used for pre-test and post-test comparisons. As a result of the statistical analysis, it was determined that the behavior sub-dimension, thought sub-dimension, emotion sub-dimension, willingness to act and environmental sensitivity scores in the post-test of the experimental group increased statistically significantly compared to the pre-test results, but no difference was observed in the control group. (p<0.05). As a result, it can be said that various outdoor recreational activities applied to middle school students and continued for 12 weeks have an effect on their environmental sensitivity. Keywords: Edutainment, Environmental Attitude, Outdoor Recreation, Recreation.