An action research on the development of secondary students' awareness of global environmental problems and critical thinking and scientific process skills

The aim of the research is to examine in detail how secondary school 7th grade students can develop their awareness of global environmental problems, critical thinking and scientific process skills through the prepared teaching activities, what kind of problems can be encountered in practice and how these problems can be solved. For this purpose, the study was designed as an action research. Criterion sampling, one of the purposive sampling methods, was used to determine the study group. As a criterion, it was determined that the students were living in a region with a lower socio-economic level, going to the 7th grade, and having deficiencies related to the research subject. The research, which was carried out with 10 7th grade students who took courses in the summer term of the 2020-2021 academic year, in a secondary school in the town of Yüreğir in Adana province, was completed in 35 class hours for 4 weeks. In the current situation analysis, qualitative and quantitative data were collected by using interview, critical thinking skills test and scientific process skills test. Qualitative data were evaluated with content analysis and quantitative data were evaluated with IBM SPSS Statistics 22 program. In the application process, qualitative data were collected using rubrics, student studies and researcher diaries, and semi-structured interview form, and descriptive and content analysis were used in the analysis of the data. Long-term interaction, expert opinion, variation and detailed description were used for the validity and reliability studies of the research data. In the current situation analysis, it was determined that students' awareness of global environmental problems such as greenhouse effect, global warming and climate change were insufficient. It has been revealed that students' critical thinking skills and scientific process skills should be developed. It was determined from the studies of the students and the answers given to the interview that the awareness of the global environmental problems of the students developed as a result of the applied teaching activities. In the implementation process of the teaching activities, the sub-dimensions of critical thinking skills and scientific process skills were scored through rubrics, and the development of the students in the sub-dimensions was examined by comparing the initial situation with the final situation. It was determined that all of the students were able to use their critical thinking skills, defining and explaining, exactly. It was concluded that other sub-skills developed. After the application, the sub-dimensions of scientific process skills such as determining variables, reading graphics and forming hypotheses were partially developed. There was no significant improvement in research planning skills. It was determined that the experimental design skills developed more than the research planning skills. At the end of the research, it was determined that the instructional design applied was effective in the development of global environmental problem awareness, critical thinking skills and scientific process skills. It has been determined that the students have positive thoughts about the activities and they want the education to be delivered to more students. Keywords: Awareness of global environmental problems, Critical thinking skills, Scientific process skills, Action research