Authentic learning in teaching environmental education and climate change course: Mixed methods research

Over the past century, humanity has faced numerous environmental problems at both local and global levels, including desertification, drought, flooding, extreme summer heat, and habitat loss. In addition, international conferences and meetings on environmental issues have focused on developing various projects and initiatives aimed at minimizing environmental damage through collective global action. The impacts of the climate crisis have led humanity worldwide to reconsider its relationship with the environment and have triggered green transition movements. In this context, curricula in Türkiye have been revised to promote greater environmental awareness, sensitivity to environmental problems, and the development of a positive relationship with the environment. Accordingly, the Environmental Education and Climate Change (EECC) course was introduced into the middle school education curriculum as an elective course during the 2022–2023 academic year, with the aim of fostering environmentally sensitive and responsible individuals. The EECC course is grounded in a theoretical framework that emphasizes identifying 21st-century environmental problems, increasing awareness of these issues, and developing a positive connection with the environment. As the curriculum prioritizes activities based on authentic contexts, the authentic learning approach was adopted in the instruction of the course. Authentic learning is a problem-solving oriented approach that enables learners to focus on real life problems. Within the context of environmental education, the authentic learning process is expected to help individuals establish connections with their immediate environments, enhance their ability to generate solutions to environmental problems they encounter and promote the development of positive environmental behaviors. Individuals' environmental behaviors vary according to the paradigms they hold; therefore, it is essential for individuals to develop ideas regarding environmental problems and to establish meaningful connections with nature. In this study, the Environmental Education and Climate Change course was implemented through the authentic learning approach, and the effectiveness of this approach was examined in terms of students' environmental paradigms, attitudes toward environmental problems, and connectedness to nature. To achieve an in-depth examination of the research outcomes, both quantitative and qualitative data were collected, and a mixed-methods research design was adopted. Mixed-methods research is grounded in pragmatic paradigm principles and a community-based perspective, encompassing the identification of problems in contexts such as the environment, family and school, as well as the processes of developing solutions to these problems. The study group was determined to use purposive sampling, as students who selected the EECC course were expected to provide richer and more in-depth data. Accordingly, the research sample consisted of 28 eighth-grade primary school students enrolled in a public school in Sakarya, Türkiye. Over a 14-week period, a total of eight authentic learning activities were conducted, with two class hours per week. During the first week, quantitative data collection instruments were administered, and in the second week, a pilot study was conducted to allow students to experience the authentic learning process and to identify any potential implementation issues. Following the pilot study, the main implementation phase was initiated. Upon completion of the implementation, post-tests were administered in the 14th week and focus group interviews were conducted to conclude the process. Quantitative data were collected using the "New Environmental Paradigm Scale", the "Attitudes Toward Environmental Problems Scale", and the "Connectedness to Nature Scale". The normality of the data obtained from the quantitative instruments was examined, and the scores for environmental paradigms, connectedness to nature, and attitudes toward environmental problems were found to be normally distributed. Accordingly, repeated-measures MANOVA was conducted to examine the overall effects of the sub-dimensions of all variables, followed by repeated-measures ANOVA to determine the effects of each sub-dimension. Qualitative data were collected through focus group interviews, researcher observation forms, student journals, and student portfolio files. The qualitative data were analyzed using both inductive and deductive approaches. Analysis of the quantitative findings revealed statistically significant differences in favor of the post-test scores between pre-test and post-test scores for environmental paradigms, connectedness to nature, and attitudes toward environmental problems. According to the qualitative findings, analysis of the codes and themes derived from the focus group interviews indicated a shift in students' perspectives from an anthropocentric paradigm toward an ecocentric paradigm across all activities. Similarly, data obtained from student journals and researcher observation forms demonstrated that students' ecocentric perspectives developed following the implementation of authentic learning activities. Furthermore, findings from both the focus group interviews and other qualitative data sources indicated that students established stronger connections with nature through out-of-school activities. In addition, in activities addressing environmental problems, students actively participated in the process and collaboratively developed solution proposals, as evidenced in both student products and qualitative findings. In conclusion, the results indicate that students' environmental paradigms evolved toward a more ecocentric perspective, that activities conducted in natural settings led to an increase in students' connectedness to nature, and that authentic activities addressing environmental problems were effective in fostering positive attitudes toward environmental issues. In this respect, the use of the authentic learning approach in the instruction of the EECC course plays a significant role in enhancing students' environmental sensitivity and in developing ecocentric perspectives.