Determination of secondary school students' cognitive structures towards sustainable lifestyle

In this study, it was aimed to determine the sustainable lifestyle perceptions of secondary school 6th-7th-8th grade students and to reveal their cognitive structures towards the key concepts determined as their knowledge levels about sustainable living habits and to determine whether the relationships between concepts differ according to grade levels. Case study design, one of the qualitative research methods, was used in the study. The study group of the research consists of a total of 263 secondary school students studying in the public school in Düziçi District of Osmaniye Province in the 2022-2023 academic year. Word association test and semi-structured interview form were used as data collection tools to reveal students' cognitive structures towards sustainable lifestyles. Twelve key words (recycling, zero waste, climate change, energy saving, renewable energy sources, ecological footprint, water saving, organic agriculture, sustainable school, sustainable life, sustainable transportation, sustainable consumption) were used in the word association test. The data obtained from the word association test were compared by creating concept networks with descriptive analysis method and breakpoint technique. Content analysis was used to analyse the data of semi-structured interview questions. As a result of the research, it was determined that students have basic knowledge about sustainable lifestyle perceptions, but they lack a lot of knowledge about these concepts. Keywords: Sustainable Life, Education For Sustainable Development, Cognitive Structure, Secondary School