Examining the impact of the global climate change training program on preschool children
Abstract
The aim of this study is to investigate the effects of the education program involving global climate change by applying it to the preschool age group. The experimental model with a pre-test, post-test control group was used in the research. The study group consists of a total of 40 children from the 5-6 age group, 20 of them in the experimental group and 20 in the control group. The “Global Climate Change Education Program” was applied to the children in the experimental group for 90 minutes, 1 day a week, for 10 weeks. The training program was carried out with the educational material “Hand in Hand for the World”, which contains educational questions and guidelines on global climate change developed by the researchers. In addition, the educational program was supported with pictures, animations, and songs that will create awareness about global climate change. A semi-structured interview form, which was prepared by the researchers and passed through 9 expert opinions, was used as a data collection tool. After expert opinion, the content validity ratio of 15 items is 0.778 and above. In the semi-structured interview form, there are a total of 15 questions with 3 sub-dimensions, including waste materials, recycling, and nature, which determine children's knowledge levels and awareness about global climate change. In the analysis of the data, a t-test was performed to examine the relationship between the experimental and control groups with the data obtained using the SPSS 26 package program. After the training, a significant difference was found in all sub-dimensions and total scores of the experimental and control group, including waste materials, recycling, and nature (p<0.05). In this context, it can be said that the global climate change education program is effective.
Keywords
Waste Materials , Nature , Recycling , Global Climate , Preschool
References
- Ağıralan, E., & Sadioğlu, U. (2021). İklim değişikliği farkındalığı ve toplum bilinci: İstanbul örneği [Climate change awareness and public consciousness: the case of Istanbul]. Anadolu Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Dergisi, 21(2), 627-654. https://doi.org/10.18037/ausbd.959287
- Akay, D. S., Akca, G., Atik, A. D., & Erkoç, F. (2020). Yaşam bilimleri profesyonellerinin iklim değişikliğinin sağlık üzerindeki etkileri konusunda eğitim ihtiyaçları var mı? [Do life science professionals need training for the effects of climate change on health?]. The Journal of International Lingual Social and Educational Science, 6(1), 141-151. https://doi.org/10.34137/jilses.684622
- Atik, A. D., & Doğan, Y. (2019). Lise öğrencilerinin küresel iklim değişikliği hakkındaki görüşleri [High school students’ views on global climate change]. Academy Journal of Educational Sciences, 3(1), 84-100. https://doi.org/10.31805/acjes.569937
- Ay, F., & Erik, N.Y. (2020). Üniversite öğrencilerinin küresel ısınma ve iklim değişikliğine yönelik bilgi ve algı düzeyleri [Determination of awareness on climate change of university students: The case of Düzce University related groups]. Sivas Cumhuriyet Üniversitesi Edebiyat Fakültesi Sosyal Bilimler Dergisi, 2(2), 1-17. https://izlik.org/JA98FK53UB
- Aydın, A. (2023, November 23–30). İklim değişikliğine hukuki uyum sürecinde Türkiye [Turkey in the process of legal adaptation to climate change] [Conference presentation]. II. International Health and Climate Change Congress (IHCC), Ankara, Türkiye.
- Büyüköztürk, Ş., Aygün, Ö., Kılıç Çakmak, E., Karadeniz, Ş., & Demirel, F. (2016). Bilimsel araştırma yöntemleri [Scientific research methods]. Pegem Akademi.
- Chen, M. J., & Price, A. M. (2020). Comparing undergraduate student nurses’ understanding of sustainability in two countries: A mixed method study. Nurse Education Today, 88, 1-6. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nedt.2020.104363
- Cohen, J. (1988). Statistical power analysis for the behavioral sciences (2nd ed.). Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
- Çalışır, E. (2022). Analysis of global climate change awareness of primary school students. [Unpublished master’s thesis]. Ankara Yıldırım Beyazıt University.
- Dalelo, A. (2011). Global climate change in geography curricula for Ethiopian secondary and preparatory schools. International Research in Geographical and Environmental Education, 20(3), 227-246. https://doi.org/10.1080/10382046.2011.588505