The purpose of the study was to investigate the relative effect of problem based
learning with a non local perspective (PBL1), problem based learning with a local
perspective (PBL2) and traditionally designed environmental education (TRD)
lectures on elementary school (7th grade) students&rsquo / environmental attitude / specifically by the 3 dimensions as / general environmental awareness, general
attitude toward solutions, and awareness of individual responsibility. The sample
consisted of 95 7th grade students from a public elementary school in Nigde. Three
classes instructed by the same science teacher are randomly assigned as control
group and experimental groups. All the groups were taught the topic &ldquo / Why do
ecosystems change?&rdquo / for four weeks. On the other hand, the control group was
taught through TRD, one of the experimental groups was taught through PBL with
a non local perspective, and the other experimental group was taught through PBL
with a local perspective. Students in TRD group received an instruction based on
teacher explanations and textbooks. On the other hand, the experimental groups
dealt with ill- structured real life problems working in small groups. The problem
of PBL1 group was selected as &ldquo / the declining environmental conditions of Manyas
Lake&rdquo / and the problem of PBL2 group was selected as &ldquo / the declining
v
environmental conditions of Akkaya Dam in Nigde&rdquo / to create a non local / local
difference between the experimental groups. Environmental Attitude
Questionnaire (EAQ) was administered to all groups as pre-test to determine the
prior environmental attitude. The worksheets, on the other hand, used by
experimental groups in their group work were examined to reveal the quality of the
process. After the treatment, EAQ was administered to all groups as a post-test to
compare the effectiveness of PBL1, PBL2 and TRD on students&rsquo / environmental
attitude. Analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) was performed to investigate the
effect of traditionally designed EE, Problem Based designed EE, and Problem
Based with a local perspective designed EE on students&rsquo / general environmental
awareness, awareness of individual responsibility and general attitude toward
solutions when students&rsquo / prior general environmental awareness, prior awareness
of individual responsibility and prior general attitude toward solutions are
controlled. The results of the study revealed that, students in PBL2 group had
significantly more positive environmental attitudes in general environmental
awareness and general attitude toward solutions dimensions than TRD group and
in all three dimensions of the questionnaire than PBL1 group. Moreover, TRD
group had significantly more positive attitude than PBL1 group in students&rsquo / awareness of individual responsibility determined after the treatment.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:METU/oai:etd.lib.metu.edu.tr:http://etd.lib.metu.edu.tr/upload/12609414/index.pdf |
| Date | 01 March 2008 |
| Creators | Iseri Gokmen, Selcen |
| Contributors | Tuncer, Gaye |
| Publisher | METU |
| Source Sets | Middle East Technical Univ. |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | M.S. Thesis |
| Format | text/pdf |
| Rights | To liberate the content for public access |
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