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Understandings of current environmental issues: Turkish case study in sixteacher education collegesMustafa Çakır a; Serhat İrez a; Özgür Kıvılcan Doğan a

a Department of Secondary Science and Mathematics Education, Marmara University, Istanbul, Turkey

First published on: 09 October 2009

To cite this Article Çakır, Mustafa, İrez, Serhat and Doğan, Özgür Kıvılcan(2009) 'Understandings of currentenvironmental issues: Turkish case study in six teacher education colleges', Educational Studies, 36: 1, 21 — 33, Firstpublished on: 09 October 2009 (iFirst)To link to this Article: DOI: 10.1080/03055690903148522URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/03055690903148522

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Educational StudiesVol. 36, No. 1, February 2010, 21–33

ISSN 0305-5698 print/ISSN 1465-3400 online© 2010 Taylor & FrancisDOI: 10.1080/03055690903148522http://www.informaworld.com

Understandings of current environmental issues: Turkish case study in six teacher education colleges

Mustafa Çakır*, Serhat [Idot ] rez and Özgür Kıvılcan Do[gbreve] an

Department of Secondary Science and Mathematics Education, Marmara University, Istanbul, TurkeyTaylor and FrancisCEDS_A_415025.sgm10.1080/03055690903148522Educational Studies0305-5698 (print)/1465-4300 (online)Original Article2009Taylor & Francis0000000002009MustafaÇakırmustafacakir@marmara.edu.tr

The purpose of this study is to profile future science teachers’ understandings ofcurrent environmental issues in the context of an education reform in Turkey.Knowledge base and understandings of elementary and secondary prospectivescience teachers about biodiversity, carbon cycle, global warming and ozone layerdepletion were targeted in the study. Questionnaire surveys developed for thispurpose were adapted and used in this investigation. The questionnaires wereadministered to 360 participants in six universities. Analysis involved frequencies,percentages and comparing means for students majoring in elementary andsecondary science teaching. Analysis of variance for differences among majorsand responses to different issues are also included. Findings are compared andcontrasted with the previous research in other countries. The study hasimplications for the prospective preparation of teachers and the future ofenvironmental literacy movement in Turkey.

Keywords: environmental education; science teacher education; environmentalissues

Introduction

Today, the need to promote a society of environmentally literate citizens is regardedas urgent in many countries and is accepted as one of the main goals of education. Itis widely recognised that democratic societies in the new century necessarily need citi-zens who have an understanding and knowledge of the causes, potential consequencesand possible cures of environmental problems thus enabling them to engage in a criticaldialogue about the political and moral dilemmas posed by global/local environmentalissues and arrive at considered decisions. The importance of creating a generation withadequate knowledge, understanding and skills to help solve and prevent environmentalproblems has been emphasised in many well-known international meetings and docu-ments (e.g. the Tbilisi Declaration).

On the other hand, environmental education has been recently coupled with theprinciples, values and practices of the concept “sustainable development”. Thismovement has gained momentum when, in December 2002, the United NationsGeneral Assembly adopted resolution 57/254 to put in place a United Nations Decadeof Education for Sustainable Development, spanning from 2005 to 2014, and desig-nated United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)to lead the Decade initiative. The elementary objective of the initiative is to foster

*Corresponding author. Email: mustafacakir@marmara.edu.tr

I g

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22 M. Çakır et al.

quality of teaching and learning of environmental topics all around the world byencouraging governments to consider the inclusion of necessary measures set by theinitiative in their respective education systems (United Nations General Assembly2005, resolution 59/237). Since then, the concept of education for sustainable devel-opment, which is a multifaceted concept that involves environmental, economic andsocial consequences of human activities, is increasingly gaining recognition allaround the world, in both developed and developing countries.

As processes of social change, environmental education and the concept ofsustainable development are intricately linked. The sustainable and stable life on earthdepends on future generations developing the understanding necessary for makinginformed decisions about the environment. To this end, there is a world-wide agree-ment on the objective that students should now be better informed about the causes,potential consequences and possible cures of global issues.

The answer to the question whether this objective has been met so far is rather disap-pointing. Many students have numerous alternative conceptions of environmentalissues (Wals 1992). Reviewing the research on students’ understandings, knowledgeor attitudes towards environment and environmental problems is beyond the scope ofthis research; however, it is important to note that investigations so far have revealeddiscouraging findings indicating that “learners do not attain desired knowledge, under-standing attitudes and skills in relation to environmental literacy” in spite of supposedreforms and strong impetus given to environmental education in last decades. To givean instance, Boyes and Stanisstreet (1998) studied the dominant beliefs of students aged13–14 years about the possible links between increases in skin cancer and global envi-ronmental effects. The results indicated that a large proportion of the students confusedthe action of heat rays with that of UV rays; they also thought that raised temperatures(i.e. the greenhouse effect) are culpable. Only 1 in 10 of the students exclusively heldthe scientifically correct model: that ozone depletion, via higher penetration of UV rays,may lead to skin cancer. Rye, Rubba, and Wiesenmayer (1997), in a research studyinvolving 24 middle school students, assessed conceptions regarding global warmingand identified crucial alternative conceptions.

When faced with similar results from all around the world, researchers and author-ities turned their attention to teachers and teacher education. Clearly, science teacherswho are knowledgeable about environment and environmental problems and whohave a comprehensive understanding of the importance of emphasising these issues intheir teaching play a central role in promoting functional environmental literacy insociety. The importance of teacher education programmes in preparing teachers forthis challenge is well recognised. UNESCO, for example, has identified the teachereducation for sustainable development as “the priority of priorities” (UNESCO–UNEP 1990).

In particular, science teacher education, which provides a strategic opportunity forensuring that all students learn sustainability, is recognised as a key strategy inachieving a sustainable society (Ferreira, Ryan, Tilbury 2007). The logic behind thisunderstanding is clear: if science teachers have misconceptions on current environ-mental issues, they will possibly perpetuate them in their classrooms (Khalid 2003).To this end, science teacher education programmes present a unique opportunity fordeveloping teachers’ competence and confidence in implementing education forsustainable development. However, there are questions whether or to what extentcurrent science teacher education programmes prepare prospective teachers for thischallenge. Indeed, research in this field have revealed that many prospective teachers

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Educational Studies 23

have misconceptions of certain environmental issues as they lack insight into thecomplexity of the environment and the underlying theoretical and scientific views(Van Petegem, Blieck, and Boeve 2007). Researchers studied teachers’ and studentteachers’ knowledge and understanding on various environmental issues, such as thegreenhouse effect (Boyes and Stanisstreet 1993; Dove 1996; Khalid 2003; Michail,Stamou, and Stamou 2007), the ozone layer depletion (Dove 1996; Summers et al.2001) and acid rain (Khalid 2003). To give an instance, Dove (1996) studied 60prospective teachers’ understanding of the greenhouse effect and the depletion of theozone layer. Participants, without understandings of the concepts involved, werefamiliar with the term of the greenhouse effect. They were unable to name othergreenhouse gases besides carbon dioxide and by and large they were unaware of thenatural greenhouse effect. They held the misconception that holes in the ozone layerare a direct cause of global warming. Boyes, Chambers, and Stanisstreet (1995), onthe other hand, studied understanding of the ozone layer with a questionnaire surveyof 453 prospective teachers. Both studies reported misconceptions, for instance, emis-sions from motor vehicles were responsible for ozone depletion and that holes in theozone layer are a direct cause of global warming.

What research literature both on students’ and teachers’ knowledge and under-standing point out is that special attention should be given to assessing and improv-ing prospective teachers’ knowledge and understanding about environmental issues.It is important to note, however, that the research conducted on environmentaleducation has been predominantly from developed countries, mainly from the USA,the UK and Australia. Although many developing countries have utilised the resultsof this research base in reforming their education systems, these efforts usually fallshort given the differences in educational, social, cultural and historical contexts indifferent countries (Leavitt 1991). Our knowledge base about environmental educa-tion practices and policies in the developing world is limited. Research resultsobtained from international studies and describing the aspects of different educa-tional contexts can enhance the knowledge of what works best in different contextsand deepen our understanding of the educational contexts in different countries(Guo 2007). Thus, a larger international community may be able to use theresearch results to inform environmental education practices and policy-making.Such studies can also provide opportunities for educators and researchers from agiven country to reflect on the goals, beliefs and practices that they take for granted(Guo 2007). Towards this end, this study attempts to fill this gap in the literatureand investigates knowledge base and understandings of prospective teachers in adeveloping country, Turkey. This investigation is likely to provide informationconcerning the nature and quality of the treatment given to environmental educa-tion in teacher education programmes and the match of current goals and directionsfor environmental education.

Therefore, before getting any further in this study, a brief description of environ-mental education and elementary and secondary science teacher education in Turkeyshould be given as it is critical for the transferability of findings to other milieus.

Environmental education in schools and in teacher education in Turkey

Turkey has one of the youngest populations in Europe. Therefore, education has beenand continues to be of critical importance to the nation’s social, political andeconomic development. The Ministry of National Education (MNE) is responsible for

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24 M. Çakır et al.

all educational services in the country excluding higher education; the Higher Educa-tion Council (HEC) being responsible for higher education.

Environmental education for sustainable development has been gaining ground inTurkey. Like many governments around the world, the Turkish government is awareof the importance of preparing its citizens for the challenges of the new century, andperceives the promotion of environmental literacy in society as an important goal ofscience education (Turkish Ministry of National Education 2005). With this under-standing, inclusion of environmental education into the Turkish formal science educa-tion curriculum has become necessary. In the last decade, the MNE carried out one ofthe most comprehensive science education reforms in the past 60 years (Turkish Minis-try of National Education 2005). Within this reform movement, environmental educa-tion has attracted special attention and the MNE planned to permeate environmentaleducation into the science education curricula by introducing Science–Technology–Society–Environment (STSE) standards. However, environmental education still is nota separate subject in elementary or secondary curricula. Environment and environmentalissues are covered in science curriculum at the elementary level and mainly in biologycurriculum at the secondary level. With the latest attempt to restructure secondarybiology curriculum in 2007, different issues related to environment and environmentalproblems permeated the programme through K9 to K12.

Teacher education has also been targeted in the reform movement in the lastdecade. Elementary science teacher education programme is a four-year programme.Students need to complete 154 credits of course work distributed in six areas: generalscience and laboratory courses; more specific science courses, such as analyticalchemistry; mathematics courses; general culture and language courses; generaleducation courses, such as educational psychology; and science methods courses(Turkish Higher Educational Council 2006). To be a secondary school scienceteacher, candidates need to either complete a five-year baccalaureate programme orcomplete a one-year master’s programme without thesis (for science graduatesintending to become secondary school science teachers). As biology, physics andchemistry are separate subjects in Turkish national curriculum at the secondary level,there are separate teacher education programmes in these fields. Since educationabout environment and environmental problems are located in the biology curricu-lum, biology teacher education is the focus of this study. It is difficult to argue thatenvironmental education has its desired position in both elementary science teachereducation and secondary biology science teacher education curricula. In bothprogrammes, there are ecology courses in which the students learn about ecologicalknowledge from a theoretical perspective. Current global environmental issues andproblems are not emphasised in the programmes.

Despite intention and recent initiatives to enrich science curricula regarding envi-ronmental education, research in the last decade show that Turkish students, like theircounterparts around the world, leave school with unclear and inadequate perceptionsabout environment and environmental problems. For example, Darcin et al. (2006)conducted a study on Turkish elementary (sixth, seventh and eighth graders) students’understandings of greenhouse effect with 319 participants. They reported thatstudents’ knowledge levels were too low and there was no significant differencebetween grade levels. Additionally, they also detected numerous of students’ miscon-ceptions. Yilmaz, Boone, and Andersen (2004) studied Turkish elementary schoolstudents’ views on environmental issues covered in the national science curriculum.Students, despite underlying the importance of environmental issues, favoured

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economical growth and industrialisation over environmental protection. Elvan et al.(2008) examined Turkish elementary school students’ environmental knowledge,behavioural intentions and environmentally friendly behaviours. They reported thatstudents had limited understanding of environmental issues. Most students developedweak understandings of topics such as recycling, water and energy usage, or environ-mental pollution.

No doubt that many factors (media, family, culture, etc.) have an effect in shapingan individual’s knowledge, understanding and attitudes towards environment andenvironmental problems. Of these factors, perhaps, formal education is the mostimportant. An underlying assumption of this project is that science teachers’ knowl-edge and understanding has an important role related to education for sustainabledevelopment and developing environmental literacy. Therefore, assessment ofprospective teachers’ knowledge and understandings is of the essence in order todesign and implement effective teacher education curriculum and practices related toenvironmental education. Relevant research on Turkish prospective and in-serviceteachers is very limited. Towards this end, this study aims to contribute to the litera-ture and informing the programme developers of education for sustainable develop-ment in Turkey. Acknowledging the importance of existing knowledge, the aim of thisproject is to identify prospective science teachers’ knowledge and misconceptions onselected environmental issues. The research questions were: (1) what do prospectivescience teachers know about biodiversity, carbon cycle, global warming and ozonelayer depletion? (2) What kind of misconceptions do prospective science teachershave about aforementioned environmental issues compared to other internationalstudies?

Significance of this study

The significance of this study is threefold: Firstly, the environmental educationresearch conducted in Turkey has provided information on the general views andattitudes of students regarding environmental issues, but the lack of research onprospective elementary and secondary science teachers as well as current global envi-ronmental issues has led to the present study.

Secondly, this research is conducted in the context of an education reform inTurkey, which raises the importance of the study not only from the Turkish point ofview but also for other countries that aim to reform their education systems related toeducation for sustainable development through similar approaches.

Thirdly, both elementary and secondary prospective science teachers are includedin this study which allows us to compare and draw inferences for each programme.

Method and data collection

Context and sampling

As the overall aim of this study is to explore and profile Turkish prospective elementaryand secondary teachers’ knowledge and understandings about current environmentalissues, the investigation was undertaken in a total of six Turkish universities andconducted by means of a closed-form questionnaire. Both prospective secondaryscience teachers (n = 108) and prospective elementary science teachers (n = 252) partic-ipated. The choice of participating universities was not random, but made to ensure a

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26 M. Çakır et al.

geographical spread, and to involve big universities, universities of average size andsmaller universities. The final questionnaire was administered to 360 participants insix universities nationwide.

Data sources and the questionnaires

Questionnaire surveys developed by Summers et al. (2001) were utilised and used inthis study. After interviewing prospective teachers, Summers et al. developed ques-tionnaire surveys that were designed to test knowledge in four areas, namely:Biodiversity, the Carbon Cycle, Ozone Layer and Global Warming. We adapted theirquestionnaires and modified them according to Turkish context. Two researchers andtwo graduate students translated the questionnaire items into Turkish individually andthen a panel of experts revised the items; more specifically, internal validity was checkedby three colleagues. Draft questionnaires were pilot tested for validity and reliabilityby applying them to a small group of prospective science teachers with follow-up inter-views to ensure that respondents understood the questions in the way intended. Theinterview sample for the draft survey consisted of seven prospective science teachersenrolled in the authors’ university. Items were constantly revised until desirable under-standings occurred. Draft questionnaires consisted of 20 statements covering environ-mental concepts related to the selected issue. After interviews and expert panel revision,a total of 80 statements were re-revised so that they were understood by the participants.Finally, a Cronbach’s α = .804 indicating acceptable reliability was estimated.

Data were gathered from six universities that are in different regions of Turkey.Questionnaires were administered online and participants were asked to respondwhether number of statements on each issue was true or false via the Internet. Achoice of “I am not sure” was included to diminish the disadvantage of closed-formquestionnaire, which is the selection of the right answer by chance. Each universitywas provided with a username and a password for logging in to the survey.

The results were analysed using statistical methods in SPSS, such as frequencies,t-test and one-way ANOVA. Analysis involved simple counting of the numbers ofresponses in each response category, finding frequencies and percentages, andcomparing means for students majoring in elementary and secondary science teach-ing. Analysis of variance for differences among majors and responses to differentissues were also included.

Findings and analysis

Initially, we looked at the descriptive statistics of four questionnaires. We identifiedproblematic items as well as well responded items and common misconceptions. Themeans and standard deviation of four questionnaires were presented in Table 1. Asseen, the mean scores for each questionnaire ranged from 7.8 (ozone layer depletion)to 11.7 (global warming) on the continuum ranging from 0 to 20. Although thesescores may indicate moderate understandings on the participants’ side about theenvironmental issues under consideration, these are, in fact, far from the level that anequipped teacher should have. While teachers’ knowledge about biodiversity, carboncycle and, global warming were relatively better, their knowledge about the OzoneLayer was obviously insufficient.

In the following sections, participants’ understandings with regard to the environ-mental issues in consideration will be discussed in detail.

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Understandings of ozone layer depletion

Ozone layer depletion was the least understood topic among the four issues as it hadthe lowest mean score (M = 7.8). Participants had a good understanding of beneficialnature of the ozone layer, ability to repair itself and its hazardous effect on our health.However, analysis revealed that the processes involved in ozone formation, theincrease in ground-level ozone, its toxicity, and causes were not well understood.

Eighty-five per cent of participants erroneously associated ozone layer depletionwith global warming and only 19% of them knew that ozone is found both in the upperatmosphere and on ground level. For instance, only 30% of the participants knew thatground level ozone acted as a greenhouse gas. Just like previous studies from othercountries, we also found that participants hold on to misconception that pollution fromfossil fuels is destroying the ozone layer – 91% of participants had this misconception.Sample items from ozone layer depletion questionnaire and frequency distribution ofparticipants’ responses to these items are shown in Table 2.

Table 1. Mean scores for environmental issues (n = 360).

Environmental issues M SD

Biodiversity 11.5 1.37Carbon cycle 11.6 1.19Global warming 11.7 1.26Ozone layer 7.8 0.92

Note: Mean scores ranged from 0 to 20.

Table 2. Frequency distribution of participants’ problematic understandings of ozonedepletion (n = 360).

StatementsCorrect

(%)Wrong

(%)Not sure

(%)

Lots of ozone is only found in the atmosphere at a high altitude.

19 47 34

Holes in the ozone layer let too much heat from the Sun get through to Earth.

8 85 7

Pollution from burning fossil fuels, e.g. in car engines, is destroying the ozone layer.

9 82 9

Before Man’s intervention, the amount of upper atmosphere ozone naturally fluctuated a lot all over the world.

19 44 37

Car engines emit lots of ozone directly into the air. 24 59 17Holes in the ozone layer will never be repaired naturally. 47 31 22Industrial processes in factories emit lots of ozone directly

into the air.20 63 17

The Sun has nothing to do with ozone formation in the atmosphere.

41 25 34

Ozone is a pollutant which thins the atmosphere to let more ultra-violet light through.

44 45 11

Pollution has reduced the amount of ozone at ground level. 30 41 29The fresh smell of ozone makes it “bracing” to breathe in. 27 31 42

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28 M. Çakır et al.

Understandings of global warming

Global warming questionnaire findings largely supported trends seen in the literaturefrom the other countries, like Greece, the UK and the USA (Table 3). Some dimen-sions of global warming, including the role of carbon dioxide as the greenhouse gas,the natural greenhouse effect, and the Earth’s balance of incoming and outgoing solarenergy were well understood.

Commonly held and seen three misconceptions, reported in all previous studiesfrom other countries, were held by significant proportion of the participants, particu-larly holes in the ozone layer as the cause of global warming (84%), the certainty thatour activities cause the global warming (80%) and role of carbon dioxide in globalwarming (63%). Sample items from global warming questionnaire and frequencydistribution of participants’ responses to these items are shown in Table 3.

Understandings of biodiversity

The protection of biological diversity has been identified as one of the major pathwaysto sustainability (Siegel 2006). The accelerating decline in biodiversity because ofhuman activities is one of the most urgent environmental issues. The questionnairemainly inquired students’ knowledge of biodiversity and the impact of human activityon biodiversity.

Prospective science teachers showed sound understanding of 10 of the 16 itemsfor biodiversity. Participants recognised the importance of protecting biodiversity,and its conflict with the demand for economic growth. The loss of diversity ofspecies, the benefits of diversity for humanity and the adverse effect of humanity on

Table 3. Frequency distribution of participants’ problematic understandings of globalwarming (n = 360).

Statements Correct (%) Wrong (%) Not sure (%)

Man-made pollution traps heat entering through holes in the ozone layer to cause global warming.

10 84 6

Global warming is caused by the ozone layer trapping the extra heat entering through its holes.

20 70 10

Global warming is caused by a layer of high altitude CO2.

16 63 21

It is certain that present global warming is caused by Man’s activities.

7 80 13

Overall, the Earth has not become warmer during the past 100 years.

41 51 8

It is the gases produced by Man which makes the Earth warm enough to support life.

42 37 21

All the energy the Earth gets from the Sun is retained by the planet and its atmosphere.

68 23 9

Man cutting down forests has no effect on the amount of carbon dioxide present in the Earth’s atmosphere.

95 2 3

Since global warming may be a natural effect there is no need to take precautions against it.

94 4 2

Man’s burning of fossil fuels has increased the amount of carbon dioxide in Earth’s atmosphere.

92 3 5

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Educational Studies 29

ecosystems were particularly well understood. They had a good understanding of therole of variation within species in enabling it to adapt to environmental change.However, there was confusion between ecosystem and biosphere in participants’understandings. They also had difficulties with the loss of biodiversity withinspecies, genetic variation in modern crops, and relationship between evolution anddiversity within species. Most of them were unaware that selective breeding reducesthe original variety in a species. They did not have sound knowledge of the impact ofbiotechnology on biodiversity. Sample of items on biodiversity are presented inTable 4.

Understandings of carbon cycle

For the carbon cycle participants showed substantial understanding of 9 of the 16items. Generally, they showed firm understanding of carbon dioxide production fromthe burning of fossil fuels or decay, humanity’s disturbance of the carbon cycle andthe notion of ancient carbon. Problematic areas in knowledge of carbon cycle forprospective teachers were the relationship between decay and carbon dioxide produc-tion and fossil fuel formation, and the proportion of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.They were not aware that absence of the normal decay process results in fossil fuelformation and that decay returns carbon to the soil not to the air, as carbon dioxide.Although prospective science teachers had a good understanding of the effects offossil fuels on greenhouse effect, they were not aware that it is the absence of thedecay that results in fossil fuel formation. Sample items from carbon cycle question-naire and frequency distribution of participants’ responses to these items are shown inTable 5.

Differences between prospective elementary and secondary science teachers

Since prospective secondary science teachers receive more science content coursesand one more year of training, we expected them to perform better on all current envi-ronmental issues. Although statistical test on differences between means on all fourissues yielded significant differences in favour of secondary science teacher trainees,

Table 4. Frequency distribution of participants’ problematic understandings of biodiversity (n= 360).

Statements Correct (%) Wrong (%) Not sure (%)

Total number of species on Earth is getting less. 93 3 4Modern types of crops such as wheat are more

genetically varied than their ancestors.16 53 31

Most species’ flexibility about living requirements enables them to tolerate a change in the habitat.

10 85 5

A species adapts to changed conditions because its members are all a bit different.

76 10 14

The entire planet Earth consists of one ecosystem. 57 30 13The fore-limbs of rain forest monkeys have become

elongated due to the stretching of them by many previous generations moving through the upper canopy.

21 56 23

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30 M. Çakır et al.

when we look at the means we see that average difference between two groups is onlyone item, except on carbon cycle which has two item differences. The practical impor-tance of the statistical significance of the differences is open to discussion. Table 6presents comparison of mean scores for environmental issues between students major-ing in elementary and secondary science teaching.

Conclusions and implications

The argument that guided this study was that one of the most important goals offormal education is to promote environmental literacy within society in order for itsmembers to contribute in decision-making processes with regard to environmentalissues. It is without doubt that the success of such a movement anywhere in the worlddepends on the existence of quality and knowledgeable teachers. Therefore, this studytargeted prospective teachers and assessed their knowledge and understandings ofcurrent environmental issues. Findings of the study revealed that prospective scienceteachers who participated in this study, generally, like their counterparts all around the

Table 5. Frequency distribution of participants’ problematic understandings of carbon cycle(n = 360).

Statements Correct (%) Wrong (%) Not sure (%)

When leaves take in carbon dioxide, some of the carbon eventually forms the body of the tree.

79 8 13

Fossil fuels are formed from the decay of things that were once alive.

11 81 8

Burning coal produces carbon dioxide. 82 13 5The formation of fossil fuels took place during

millions of years in ancient times.92 4 4

Normally there is a tiny proportion (less than 0.1%) of carbon dioxide in the air we breathe.

66 22 12

In the past the natural movement of carbon dioxide into and out of the atmosphere kept it at roughly the same level.

50 19 31

The carbon cycle is about returning carbon to the soil during leaf fall rather than carbon dioxide to the air.

28 40 32

Coal already contains carbon dioxide trapped within it. 45 38 17

Table 6. Comparison of mean scores for environmental issues between students majoring inelementary and secondary science teaching.

Environmental issues Major M SD t df p

Biodiversity Sec. Sci. (n = 108)El. Sci. (n = 252)

12.211.1

1.521.24

3.54 358 .000

Carbon cycle Sec. Sci. (n = 108)El. Sci. (n = 252)

13.111.0

1.091.22

5.91 358 .000

Global warming Sec. Sci. (n = 108)El. Sci. (n = 252)

12.411.4

1.481.22

3.47 358 .001

Ozone layer Sec. Sci. (n = 108)El. Sci. (n = 252)

8.37.6

1.000.96

2.19 357 .029

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Educational Studies 31

world, do not possess desired knowledge and understanding regarding the environ-mental issues focused in this study.

The study revealed that while prospective teachers who participated in this studywere not fully equipped in terms of knowledge about the environmental issues consid-ered in this study, their knowledge and understanding related to ozone layer depletionand global warming appeared critically weak. Most Turkish prospective scienceteachers were found to hold misconceptions about the association of the ozone layerdepletion with the global warming, the association of the pollution from fossil fuelswith the ozone layer depletion and the location of ozone. Overall, participants’ knowl-edge was comparatively better in the areas of biodiversity and carbon cycle. Theresults of this study confirm those conducted in other countries. International studieshave also reported that prospective and in-service teachers generally identified ouractivities behind the formation of the ozone layer depletion (Khalid 2003; Summerset al. 2001) and the consequences of the ozone layer depletion (Boyes, Chambers, andStanisstreet 1995; Michail, Stamou, and Stamou 2007; Summers et al. 2001) and thegreenhouse effect.

One reason for Turkish prospective science teachers’ limited knowledge of currentenvironmental issues could be the fact that environmental concepts concerning currentglobal issues are not emphasised in formal teacher education curricula. One of theresults of this study is that secondary biology prospective teachers performed slightlybetter in questionnaires comparing to prospective elementary science teachers. Weexplain this with the fact that biology teachers receive more science content courses,especially on ecology. However, considering that the difference between the groupswas minimal, we argue that while content courses on ecology and related subjects arenecessary in attaining environmental literacy, they are insufficient. It is clear that, inorder to enhance future teachers’ awareness and competencies, teacher educationprogrammes must make long-term commitment on environmental issues and makethem priority on their curriculum.

Moreover, mass media – namely, newspapers, news magazines and television –were reported to be often consulted by participants for their environmental informa-tion. Participants’ knowledge and awareness of current global environmental issuesgenerally relied on the media, which sometimes fail to provide the basic concepts forenvironmental literacy. Using the media as major environmental information sources,teachers are being environmentally educated in lay and not in scientific terms.

It is obvious that students enter teacher education programmes without clearknowledge and understanding of environment and environmental problems. Scienceteacher education programmes emerge as the last opportunity to challenge and changeinadequate knowledge and understandings about environmental issues. In this sense,the fact that many of the prospective teachers participating in this study were found tobe holding misconceptions regarding current environmental issues is worrying and hasserious implications for both the Turkish teacher education and the future of environ-mental literacy movement in Turkey.

Implementation of education for sustainable development agenda in teachereducation training is a long-term effort (Van Petegem, Blieck, and Boeve 2007). Envi-ronmental education is still in its infancy in Turkey. Integration of environmentaleducation for sustainable development in prospective teacher education should beachieved in order to close the gap between reformed science education programmesand teacher education programmes. Although introducing STSE standards and includ-ing environmental issues in formal science education curricula were very important

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32 M. Çakır et al.

steps towards achieving environmental literacy, teacher education programmes shouldalso incorporate the components of education for sustainable development and currentenvironmental issues into their programmes. Environmental education benchmarksfor both secondary and elementary science teacher education must be developed. Tothis end HEC should push the agenda for implementing education for sustainabledevelopment curriculum into teacher education programmes throughout the country.Environmentally literate teachers in both elementary and secondary levels are must tohave knowledgeable, socially active future generations.

It should be noted that the participants of this study were not practicing teachers.Given the complex relationship between knowledge/understanding and how theytranspire into practice, one should approach the results of the research with caution andaccept these results as potential indicators of future practices. Clearly, further researchin this particular area is needed. In this sense, longitudinal studies which assess theknowledge and understandings of prospective teachers and pursue how these knowledgeand understandings translate into their classroom practices and into the nature of thecurriculum they develop in their first years of teaching would be valuable. Further, bothqualitative and quantitative, continuing research is necessary to follow-up the imple-mentation of environmental education and developing conceptions of environmentalissues at schools in all levels.

AcknowledgementsThis study was made possible by Grant E[Gbreve] T-BGS-290506-0154 from Scientific ResearchCoordination Centre of Marmara University. Versions of parts of this article were presented atthe American Educational Research Association Conference, New York, March 2008.

Notes on contributorsMustafa Çakır is an assistant professor at the Department of Secondary Science and Mathemat-ics Education, Ataturk Faculty of Education, Marmara University, Turkey. He earned his Ph.D.and M.Sc. in Science Education from the Pennsylvania State University in 2000 and 2004respectively. His current research focuses on assisting students in developing understandingsof scientific inquiry, nature of science and relevance of science to society that are consistentwith current practice and helping them to develop understandings and skills that are necessaryfor citizens of twenty-first century.

Serhat Irez is a lecturer/researcher at the Department of Secondary Science and MathematicsEducation, Ataturk Faculty of Education, Marmara University, Turkey. He earned his M.A. inProfessional Development of Teachers and School Improvement and Ed.D. in Teacher Educationfrom the University of Nottingham in 2000 and 2004, respectively. His research focuses on natureof science in science education, assessment in science education and professional developmentof science teachers.

Özgür Kıvılcan Do[gbreve] an is a research assistant at the Department of Secondary Science andMathematics Education, Ataturk Faculty of Education, Marmara University, Turkey. Heearned his M.Sc. in Science Education from the Marmara University in 2008. His currentresearch focuses on assisting students in developing understandings of scientific inquiry andnature of science.

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