Cinsiyet ve Kırsal - Kentsel Kesim Farklılıkların Öğrencilerinin Çevreye Yönelik Tutumlarına Etkisi

The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of region (rural and urban) and gender on 6th Grade students’ attitudes toward the environment. A total of 135 students (n=65 girls; n=70 boys) participated in the study. A 45-item Likert type questionnaire consisting of four dimensions was used to measure students’ environmental attitude. These dimensions (awareness for environmental problems, general attitude about solutions, awareness of individual responsibility and awareness on the national environmental problems) constitute the dependent variables of the study. A two-way MANOVA was conducted for the specified purpose. Results showed that there was a significant effect of region on the collective dependent variables. Univariate ANOVAs indicated that students in the urban area had greater awareness for environmental problems, individual responsibility and national environmental problems. On the other hand, no statistically significant effect of gender was found.Bu çalışmanın amacı, cinsiyet ve kırsal - kentsel kesim farklılıklarının 6. sınıf öğrencilerinin çevreye yönelik tutumlarını nasıl etkilediğini incelemektir. Çalışmada 65 kız, 70 erkek olmak üzere, 135 öğrenci yer almıştır. Öğrencilerin çevreye yönelik tutumlarının ölçülmesi amacı ile 45 soru ve dört boyuttan oluşan Likert türü bir ölçek kullanılmıştır. Söz konusu boyutlar, çevresel sorunlarla ilgili tutum, sorunların çözümü ile ilgili tutum, kişisel sorumluluklarla ilgili tutum ve ulusal çevre sorunları ile ilgili tutumdur. MANOVA sonuçları, bölgesel farklılıkların 4 boyut üzerinde anlamlı bir etkisi olduğunu göstermiştir. ANOVA sonucunda, kentsel alanlarda yaşayan öğrencilerin tutumlarının daha olumlu olduğu ortaya çıkmıştır. Bununla birlikte, cinsiyet farkının öğrencilerin çevresel tutumları üzerinde anlamlı bir etkisi gözlenmemiştir

Sediments as an issue for environmental cognizance: an approach for the delineation and interpretation of metal contamination in the anoxic sediments of the Black Sea

Ph.D. - Doctoral Progra

A Qualitative Study on Turkish Preschool Children's Environmental Attitudes Through Ecocentrism and Anthropocentrism

This study explores preschool children's attitudes towards environmental issues with a focus on the issue of gender as a factor affecting their attitudes. The study sample comprised 40 preschool age children living in Ankara, Turkey. The research adopted a qualitative approach, and the data were collected through interviews in which a questionnaire was administered. The interview questionnaire was adapted from 'The Children's Attitudes Toward the Environment Scale-Preschool Version' which contains 15 interview questions and sub-questions. The findings of our study indicate that most of the 5-6-year-old children initially appear to have ecocentric attitudes towards environmental issues in all the dimensions. However, when the children explained their reasons for choosing one of the two pictures, their responses were evaluated as emanating from anthropocentric attitudes. No difference in the attitudes of the preschool children was detected in relation to their gender. In conclusion, this study shows that the educational programmes at the preschool stage need to be broadened and improved, particularly in the provision of outdoor study in natural settings for the children to develop a more ecocentric attitude towards the environment

Ankara'daki Eğitim fakültelerinde çevre okuryazarlığının belirlenmesi

TÜBİTAK SBB Proje01.05.200

Evolution of Metal Pollution in the Golden Horn Turkey Sediments Between 1912 and 1987

The Golden Horn is a heavily polluted water body in a large metropolitan area with a population of approximately 10 million. A 3-m Long undisturbed core sample was collected in the Golden Horn, from research vessel RV Knorr, during the third leg of the joint Turkish American Black Sea expedition in 1989. The core was sliced and dated using the Pb-210 isotope technique. The bottom of the core corresponds to the year 1912, Each slice was analysed for major, minor and trace elements by inductively coupled plasma emission spectrometry (ICP), The masses of the measured elements can account for approximately half of the sediment mass, The lithophilic elements Li, K, Rb, Mg, Ca, Ba, At, La, Ti, V, Mn, Fe, Co and Ni account for more than 90% of the elemental mass and do not show any change in their concentrations between 1912 and 1987, Although anthropogenic elements Mo, Zn, Cr, Cu, Ag, and Cd account for a minute fraction of the elemental mass, their concentrations increase along the core, signifying human influence on chemical composition of the Golden Horn Sediments. Lead was enriched at the bottom of the core suggesting pollution of Golden Horn sediments by this element even at the beginning of the century, but observed concentrations of the remaining anthropogenic elements, at the bottom of the core, can be explained by sedimentary material. Concentrations of pollution-derived elements do not change significantly between 1912 and 1950, but their concentrations increase sharply in the second half of the century. A factor analysis applied to the data set has shown that the inorganic fraction of the Golden Horn sediments includes crustal, marine and two anthropogenic components. One of the anthropogenic components is attributed to the discharges from an iron and steel plant. The second anthropogenic component, which accounted for a larger fraction of system variance, is due to discharges from industries, particularly metalwork plants

Investigating Preservice Teachers’ Environmental Literacy through their Epistemological Belief

People’s understanding about a scientific topic is related to their point of view about knowledge, in other words, their epistemological beliefs (Kardash & Scholes, 1996; Schommer, Crouse, & Rhodes, 1992). Therefore, it is required to investigate the effects of people’s epistemological beliefs on their attitude and behavior about the environmental issues. Teachers play central role in attaining the goals of the environmental education and have multiplier effects on future generations’ awareness, thus, the aim of this study was to find relationships between preservice teachers’ (PTs) environmental behavior and their epistemological beliefs. The instruments to be used for detecting PTs is, Environmental Literature Test, developed by National Environmental Education and Training Foundation (NEETF & Roper, 2005), and that for detecting epistemological beliefs is the Schommer’s (1990) questionnaire on the Epistemological beliefs. Sample of this study constituted 560 PTs from of a university. Multiple Regression analysis results indicated that for environmental behavior mean scores, three of the predictors - attitude, concern and innate ability- contributed significantly to the model. These three factors explained the 32, 6 % of the variability in the environmental behavior mean scores (adjusted R2 = 0,326, F (3, 553) =90,081, p < .00)

Moral reasoning patterns and influential factors in the context of environmental problems

Yilmaz, Ozgul/0000-0001-7869-9251WOS: 000306087900004This study investigated pre-service science teachers' (PSTs') moral reasoning patterns and the factors underlying these reasoning patterns. Local and non-local environmental dilemmas were used to examine moral reasoning patterns. An explanatory design was used with the collection and analysis of quantitative data, which was subsequently refined using qualitative interview data. For the quantitative part of the study, PSTs were asked to comment on four local and non-local environmental dilemmas (i.e. deforestation, e-waste, oil spills, and global warming). The responses were categorized as ecocentric, anthropocentric, or non-environmental reasoning. The findings showed that the participants' moral reasoning focused on both ecocentric and anthropocentric perspectives, with a few displaying non-environmental reasoning. Concern for environmental problems was related to perceptions of whether the issue was directly related to nature, and was independent of whether the issues were local or non-local. The Moral Decision Making Interview protocol was used in the qualitative part of the study. Analysis revealed that the participants' moral decisions were based on their resolutions in situational context and their concerns showed variations in their moral reasoning due to different factors like, effect on human life, formal principles, notion of rights, moral emotions, potential harm to others, and popular culture