Research on environmental education in social sciences education: A content analysis study

This study covers the analysis of postgraduate theses and articles published in national and international refereed journals in the field of environmental education within the scope of social studies course between 2010 and 2023. This study was limited to the theses obtained from YÖK National Thesis Center and the articles accessed through ULAKBİM National Social and Human Sciences Database, scientific articles made abroad were excluded from this study. For this purpose, a total of 35 articles, 30 master's theses and 2 doctoral dissertations were reached. The distribution of the theses obtained by examining the National Thesis Center of the Council of Higher Education and the articles examined by using the ULAKBIM National Social and Humanities Database were subjected to content analysis according to the subject areas, methods, years of publication, and journals in which the articles were published. The numerical values of the findings obtained as a result of the research are presented through percentage / frequency tables. The evaluations revealed that more studies were conducted on environmental education in 2022 compared to previous years. It was observed that the research mainly focused on quantitative and qualitative studies, while mixed-method studies were limited. The research models of literature review and document analysis were predominantly used, and the sample consisted mostly of students. Regarding data collection tools, environmental attitude scales, document analysis, and interview forms were commonly preferred. Although there is a significant number of research articles and master's theses on environmental education in the field of Social Studies, the limited number of doctoral theses indicates the need for more emphasis on doctoral research in this area. Instead of analyzing master's theses and research articles together, separate evaluations could provide valuable contributions in terms of research methodology, design, analysis techniques, and sample groups. It would be important to determine the specific student levels where research on environmental education is predominantly conducted by evaluating the student sample within itself. Furthermore, more research is needed on key topics such as entrepreneurial attitudes towards the environment, citizenship critical thinking, field observation, environmental ethics awareness, and selfefficacy.