Investigating the impact of the REACT strategy-based instruction in environmental education and climate change on eighth-grade students' environmental awareness

This study was conducted to examine the effect of instruction based on the REACT strategy within the "Global Climate Change" unit of the Environmental Education and Climate Change course on eighth-grade students' environmental awareness, as well as to analyze students' views regarding the implementation process. A concurrent embedded mixed-methods design was employed. The quantitative dimension of the study was carried out using a quasi-experimental pretest-posttest control group design, while the qualitative dimension was conducted through a holistic single-case design. The study group consisted of 35 eighth-grade students selected through purposeful sampling from a public middle school located in a district of a province in the Western Black Sea region during the second semester of the 2023-2024 academic year. Over a six-week period, totaling twelve class hours, quantitative data were collected using the Environmental Awareness Scale (EAS), whereas qualitative data were gathered through a Semi-Structured Interview Form (SSIF) to explore the effectiveness of the implementation in greater depth. The findings revealed statistically significant differences in favor of the experimental group-who received REACT-based instruction between the experimental and control groups in the posttest scores of the EAS. This difference was observed across all dimensions of the scale, including environmental knowledge, attitudes toward the environment, and environmental behaviors. These quantitative results indicate that the REACT strategy is significantly more effective than the existing instructional approach in enhancing students' environmental awareness. The qualitative findings further showed that students developed more comprehensive environmental perceptions and more informed views related to global climate change. This suggests that the REACT strategy provides a holistic and effective instructional process that supports not only cognitive but also affective learning outcomes. Based on the results of the study, it is recommended that instructional programs be redesigned to incorporate student-centered approaches such as the REACT strategy; that REACT-based instruction be adapted to different courses and topics; and that similar research be conducted with larger sample groups and in various educational settings.