Application and evaluation of ecological footprint as an environmental education tool towards sustainable life

The aim of this study is to analyze the impact of ecological footprint applications used as a tool of environmental education on changing the awareness, attitudes and behaviors of science and technology education teacher candidates towards environment and sustainable life. Research model of single group pre-test?post-test was used in this study. The research was applied on 49 third grade pre-service teachers studying in Gazi University Faculty of Education Science Education Program in the 2006-2007 academic year. While applying the research, activities which are based on the issues of sustainable life and ecological footprint and include the active participation of students, and were student-centered, were applied for teacher candidates. In the research, ?Environmental Education Survey? and ?Ecological Footprint Measurement Survey? were used as data collection tools. The Ecological Footprint of pre-service teachers were calculated, using web-based Ecological Footprint Calculator. SPSS (Statistical Package for Social Sciences Program, Version 10.0) package program and Microsoft Excel electronic table programs were used to analyze the data collected from the research. In the analyzing of statistical data, correlation method and paired samples t-Test were used. vi Following results are obtained from analyzes: ? It was seen that awareness, attitude and behavior points of the teacher candidates rose on the phase of post-test. That result shows that applying ecological footprint is an environmental education tool effective in changing the awareness, attitudes and behaviors of the teacher candidates towards environment and sustainable life. ? It was observed that teacher candidates made biggest contribution to the Ecological Footprinting while consuming food and smallest contribution in transportation. ? As a result of interviews, it was determined that the teacher candidates were making suggestions leading them to the revision of their consumption choices and requiring them to make changes in their lifestyles. At the end of the research, some suggestions were made concerning the application of ecological footprint education in larger groups and different variables to raising the awareness of the society in the subjects of environment and sustainable life.