@article{article_1085858, title={Developing the Wetland Awareness Scale Through Children’s Eyes and Example Application}, journal={Environmental Toxicology and Ecology}, volume={2}, pages={50–65}, year={2022}, author={Uysal, İbrahim and Şayan, Neda and Uysal, Batuhan Ege and Temel, Kerem and Uysal, Aycan Çolak}, keywords={Wetland, Awareness, Scale Development, Secondary Education}, abstract={The loss of wetlands and the pollution in water resources today show that necessary steps should be taken quickly to protect the sustainability of these resources. In the study, it was aimed to develop a measurement tool that measures the awareness level of children about wetlands in a valid and reliable way. In the descriptive study, data were obtained from three different groups. Participants consist of secondary school students between the ages of 9-15 studying in Turkey. Explanatory factor analysis was performed by applying the 26-item candidate scale questions to 245 secondary school students. Then, confirmatory factor analyzes were carried out with the data obtained from the participation of 201 students. SPSS 26.0 and AMOS statistical software were used in the analysis of the data. Evaluations of secondary school students’ awareness of wetlands were examined on a group of 446 people. As a result of the validity analyzes made with the data obtained from the application, it was determined that the scale consisted of 14 items with two factors. This structure was confirmed by confirmatory factor analysis. The reliability value of the entire scale was 0.891; 0.704 for the wetland awareness factor in terms of bird species diversity; The importance of wetlands and the awareness of the problems experienced factor was determined to be 0.895. There was no significant difference between gender, age, and having taken wetland lessons before and wetland awareness (p: >0.05). It was determined that there was a significant difference between whether they went to a wetland in the region they lived in before and the wetland awareness of the children (U=15052.5 and p: <0.05). Wetland awareness was found to be higher in students who had gone to wetlands before. It was concluded that the scale developed according to these results in the context of the participants in this study, which was carried out with secondary school students, measured the wetland awareness levels of children in a valid and reliable way.}, number={1}, publisher={Ekoloji ve Ekotoksikoloji Derneği}