Development and application study of primary school level environmental attitude scale

In the research, it was aimed to develop a valid and reliable measurement instrument to determine the attitudes of elementary school students towards environment and to examine the students' attitude levels in terms of various demographic variables using the scale developed. Adopting a quantitative research design, the study employs a survey in nature. The research was conducted during the 2022-2023 academic year with the participation of 1548 students from primary schools located in Kırşehir province in Türkiye. In the study, a Likert-type scale development model was used. Exploratory factor analysis with promax oblique rotation technique was employed considering the interrelatedness of the items in the measurement tool. After three rounds of rotation technique, a 17-item scale consisting of three sub-factors was obtained. The Kaiser-Mayer-Olkin [KMO] Test yielded a result of .837 for the scale. The calculated Bartlett's Test result was found to be significant (p < .00). In the validity-reliability analysis of the developed data collection tool, it was observed that the Cronbach's Alpha internal consistency coefficient increased from .76 in exploratory factor analysis to .91 in confirmatory factor analysis. Confirmatory Factor Analysis revealed that the goodness-of-fit value of the scale (x2 = 262.93, df = 116, p = .00) was significant. It was determined that the x2 value, which varies according to the sample size, was 262.93 with 116 degrees of freedom. The ratio of x2/df for model fit was calculated as 2.26. The attitude levels of 4th-grade primary school students towards environmental education were examined and evaluated in terms of various demographic variables using the developed scale. According to the research findings, the attitudes of 4th grade primary school students towards environemental show that there was no significant difference based on gender; yet a significant difference was observed in favor of the higher socioeconomic groups according to socioeconomic status, and a significant difference was observed in favor of educational level based on the occupation groups of mothers and fathers. were not found, yet in the attitude levels towards environmental based on gender. However, significant differences were observed in favor of the higher socioeconomic group, as well as in favor of higher education levels based on the occupations of mothers and fathers.