Determination of microplastic pollution awareness of prospective science teachers and levels of their behavior towards environmental problems

The rapid increase in plastic production and use also increases the environmental impacts of plastics. The fact that plastics are insoluble and do not degrade in nature for a long time causes serious pollution, especially in the seas and other natural environments. The environmental impacts of plastic waste are becoming more complex, especially with the formation of microplastics. Plastics in the environment; Naturally, it breaks down into microplastics due to effects such as wind, air, sunlight, water waves, currents, tides, salinity, living activities, and various anthropogenic effects. By increasing social awareness and awareness about microplastic pollution, teachers can ensure that future generations are more sensitive to environmental issues. For this reason, in study; It was aimed to determine the awareness levels of prospective teacher candidates who will educate future generations about microplastics and their behaviors towards environmental problems. The sample group of the study, which was conducted using the survey (descriptive) model, one of the quantitative research methods; It consists of a total of 93 prospective teachers from each grade level studying in the Science Education Department of a state universty in the 2022-2023 academic year. "Personal Information Form", "Microplastic Pollution Awareness Scale" and "Behavior Scale towards Environmental Problems" were used as data collection tools in the study. SPSS program was used for statistical analysis. The suitability of the variables in the study to normal distribution was examined with the Shapiro-Wilk test. It was observed that the data of the Microplastic Pollution Awareness Scale and the Behavior Scale towards Environmental Problems did not show a normal distribution. Continuous variables that do not comply with normal distribution are expressed with mean (sum of ranks) values. According to the normality test results, Mann Whitney U test was used for comparisons between two groups, and Kruskal Wallis H test was used for comparisons of more than two groups. When the findings of the research were examined, it was seen that the prospective science teachers who participated in the study had a high level of awareness of microplastic pollution. It was determined that there was no significant difference in the awareness levels of prospective teachers regarding microplastic pollution according to the variables of gender, father's education level, mother's education level, residential area and environmental publication follow-up status. However, a significant difference was found in terms of grade level, age distribution and environmental education course taking status. On the other hand, when prospective teachers awareness levels of microplastic pollution were compared between their grade levels, it was seen that as the grade level increased, their awareness level of microplastic pollution increased. In addition, prospective teachers taking environmental education courses were found to have higher awareness of microplastic pollution. When the other scale findings in the study were examined, it was concluded that the behavior levels of the prospective science teachers participating in the study towards environmental problems were generally at a medium level. There is a significant difference between the behavior levels of prospective science teacher candidates participating in the study towards environmental problems and the variables of the prospevtive teacher candidates' gender, class level, age distribution, father's education level, mother's education level, residential area, status of taking environmental education courses and status of following environmental publications. It was concluded that there was no significant difference between the variables of settlement area, environmental education course taking and environmental publication follow-up status. When the prospective science teachers participating in the study compared their behaviors towards environmental problems and their awareness of microplastic pollution, it was seen that there was a low level positive relationship between them. Microplastic pollution has become a serious problem globally and it is important to raise education and awareness on this issue. In this context, it is recommended that informative courses and materials about microplastic pollution be included in the curriculum.