Examination of the attitudes of the students of the faculty of sports sciences towards orienteering sports

Purpose: To develop a measurement tool to measure the attitudes of adults towards orienteering and to examine the attitudes and reasons of the students of the faculty of sports sciences towards orienteering. Materials and Methods: The thesis has three stages. In the first stage, the "Orienteering Attitude Scale" was developed using the exploratory ranking design. In the second stage, the "Orienteering Attitude Scale" was applied to the students of the faculty of sports sciences using the general screening method. In the third stage, the reasons for their attitudes towards orienteering were investigated using a case study. Findings: Students studying in the faculties of sports sciences have a high orienteering attitude. While gender, age and classes affect their attitudes, schools and departments do not. According to the qualitative data obtained, the attitudes of the students studying in the faculties of sports sciences towards orienteering were collected under 4 themes. These; The theme of attitude towards nature, the theme of reasons for interest in orienteering, the theme of the effects of orienteering on daily life, the features that distinguish orienteering from other sports. Conclusion: The "Orienteering Attitude Scale" was developed to measure the attitudes of adults towards orienteering. Orienteering positively affects students' attitude to nature. Students' commitment to nature positively affects their orienteering attitude. Students see orienteering as different from other sports branches due to its originality. In addition, they are also interested in orienteering because it positively affects their daily lives due to physical, cognitive, social and environmental factors.