Özet:

This study was conducted with the aim of determining the cognitive structures of Year 4 students related to the key concept of “drought”. The case study approach, from among the approaches to qualitative studies, was used in the study. The data for the study was obtained by using the word association test on 32 students studying in Year 4, in the Department of Geography Teaching, at the Ahmet Keleşoğlu Faculty of Teaching of Necmettin Erbakan University. The data, which was obtained, was assessed according to content analysis. The findings were separated into a total of 6 categories. The frequency values and percentages of the response words in each category were calculated and presented in the form of a table. The response words with a frequency of 2 or higher were shown in the table, in these categories. While the words which were repeated only once were not included in the table, these responses were evaluated within the text in the relevant category. In the classification of the response words in the study, the category entitled “the probable impacts of drought”, came to the forefront as the dominant category. The other categories, in order of prominence, were, “the effects of drought on humanity”, “the causes of drought”, “the definition of drought”, “arid regions” and “living creatures associated with drought”.  When it is considered that the “response words” in all of the categories in the study were mostly words which required academic knowledge, the conclusion was reached that the students had structured the concepts related to drought correctly, to a significant extent, and that the level of false notions in respect of the words was not high. It was also seen that the WAT (Word Association Test) was a very practical method.

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