Abstract:

Environmental education is important for the development of attitudes and behaviors towards the environment. This research aimed to determine the attitude levels of 4th-grade elementary school students towards the environment and examine them in terms of various demographic variables. The research adopted a quantitative research design, employing a descriptive survey method to depict the students' attitude levels towards the environment and a relational survey model to examine these attitude levels concerning various variables. The research was conducted with the participation of 600 students in elementary schools located in Kırşehir province during the 2022-2023 academic year. According to the research findings, the attitude levels of 4th-grade elementary school students towards the environment had average scores, and their behavioral tendencies towards the environment also had average scores. However, their emotional tendencies had high average scores, and their cognitive tendencies had high average scores. Furthermore, in terms of attitude levels towards the environment, no significant differences were found based on gender. Significant differences were observed in favor of higher socioeconomic groups, and there were also significant differences in favor of higher education levels of parents regarding their occupations. In this context, environmental education programs in the educational process may focus more on practical applications and experiential learning.

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