Environmental Awareness in Educational Sciences Research: A Conceptual and Methodological Analysis of Graduate Theses

Abstract

The rapid depletion of global resources has made people more sensitive to environmental issues. Students, who will be the decision-makers of the future, are being provided with basic information on environmental protection, particularly in family and school settings, and it is expected that this information will be put into practice. In this regard, fostering environmental awareness among students can be achieved by ensuring they have the necessary knowledge on the subject. Numerous studies have been conducted on this important topic in educational sciences. Being informed about the status of these studies will contribute to researchers in terms of the relevant basic literature. In this regard, the aim of this study is to systematically review master's theses on environmental awareness in the field of educational sciences in Türkiye between 1999 and 2025 within the framework of specific criteria. A qualitative research approach was adopted in the study, and theses published in the National Thesis Center of the Council of Higher Education were evaluated using the document analysis method. During the review process, the theses were analyzed in terms of the year of publication, university, research method, sampling type, data collection tool, and distribution of study topics. The data obtained shows that quantitative methods are preferred in the majority of theses on environmental awareness and that ready-made scales are generally used as data collection tools. When examining the sample groups, it is seen that teacher candidates, teachers, and primary school students are predominantly the subjects of the studies. In theses related to environmental awareness, variables such as the effect of environmental factors on the development of environmental awareness, attitudes towards the environment, awareness, and behavioral change have been found to be prominent. These findings show that academic studies on environmental awareness in Türkiye are increasingly becoming interdisciplinary and that environmental education is beginning to be addressed as a holistic value education field in the educational sciences literature. It reveals that postgraduate studies on environmental awareness have increased, especially in recent years, and that the themes of environmental education, sustainability, and ecological awareness have become increasingly important during this period.

Keywords

• Environmental awareness
• educational sciences
• graduate theses

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