Examination of pre-service teachers' natural disaster literacy levels and disaster preparedness

The aim of this study is to determine the natural disaster literacy levels and disaster preparedness of pre-service teachers and to examine this situation according to some variables. The study was conducted with cross-sectional survey, one of the quantitative research methods. The application group consisted of 408 pre-service teachers studying in the 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th grades of Hacettepe University Faculty of Education, Department of Science Education and Department of Classroom Education, located in Ankara province. Data were collected face-to-face using "Natural Disaster Literacy Inventory" and "Disaster Readiness Scale" and analyzed using SPSS 20 package program. As a result, it was seen that the participants' natural disaster literacy was at the lower limit of high level, but the behavioral dimension of the scale was at medium level, affective tendencies were high and achievement scores were slightly higher than medium level. In addition, it was concluded that the disaster preparedness of the participants was at a medium level and it was determined that the preparedness scores showed significant differences according to gender, department, family education level, income level and knowing the name of the institution related to disaster. Finally, it was found that there was a positive relationship between behavioral and affective dispositions, which are the dimensions of disaster literacy, and preparedness levels.