THE IMPACT OF RECYCLING EDUCATION ON HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS’ CONCEPTUAL UNDERSTANDING ABOUT ECOLOGY: A STUDY ON FOOD WEB AND PYRAMID
YENİDEN KAZANIM EĞİTİMİNİN ORTAÖĞRETİM ÖĞRENCİLERİNİN EKOLOJİ KONUSUNDAKİ KAVRAMSAL ANLAMALARINA ETKİSİ: BESİN AĞI VE BESİN PİRAMİDİ ÖRNEĞİ

Author : İlker UĞULU -- Halil AYDIN - Yunus DOĞAN - Süleyman BAŞLAR
Number of pages : 477-497

Abstract

Recycling projects play an essential role in the resolution of such problems through reducing waste or enabling to reuse out-of-order materials in our possession that we may tend to describe as garbage and ultimately through minimization of energy, cost, and time as well as conservation of natural resources. Considering the contributions of recycling to the conservation and sustainability of environmental resources, lack of efficient education in this matter is a major handicap for our country having a great potential for development. The objective of this study is to analyze and determine whether a developed recycling education program would lead to a positive change in the conceptual understanding of ecological concepts associated with matter cycles by secondary school students. The research was conducted on 68 secondary school 10th grade students (47 female and 21 male students) studying in fall semester of 2010-2011 school year. The control group consists of 36 students (26 female and 10 male students) who were provided courses in accordance with secondary school biology curriculum implemented by the Turkish Education Board subordinated to the Ministry of National Education and the experimental group consists of 32 students (21 female and 11 male students) who were provided courses that included the Recycling Education Program (REP) integrated into the biology curriculum. The research has been contextualized as a quasi-experimental design model with pretest-posttest control group and the Ecosystem Ecology Conceptual Understanding Test (EECUT) was applied to the students in the research group prior to and after providing them with the respective courses with an aim to determine the effects of the Recycling Education Program on the conceptual understanding of ecological concepts by secondary school students. During the experimental process, the group of students who were instructed within the scope of secondary school biology curriculum implemented upon acceptance of the decree nr. 137 on June 3rd, 2008 of the Turkish Education Board subordinated to the Ministry of National Education were evaluated as the control group and the other group of students who were instructed courses that included the Recycling Education Program (REP) integrated into the biology curriculum were evaluated as the experimental group. The REP was prepared in a manner to integrate with the subject of “Ecosystem Ecology” included within the compass of secondary school biology curr

Keywords

Recycling, Education, Ecology, Food Web, Food Pyram

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