Effect of cooperative learning approach on recycling sensitiveness of preservice classroom teachers

Abstract

To prevent today’s increasing environmental problems is only possible with an effective environment education. Teachers, in turn preservice teachers have great responsibility to enable an effective environment education. Therefore, this research aimed to determine the effect of cooperative learning method which is implemented in Environment Education course on preservice classroom teachers’ sensitiveness about recycling. One group pretest-posttest experimental design was used fort his aim. A total of 100 2nd grade students enrolling Classroom Teaching Departments and attending Environment Education course in 2016-2017 academic year, fall semester participated in the research. As a data collection tool, “Sensitivity Survey of Environmental Recycling” was used. The reliability coefficient was calculated as .849. In order to test whether the data was normally distributed or not, Kolmogorov-Smirnov analysis was used and results showed the data was normally distributed. In this research, paired samples t-test, independents samples t-test and one way ANOVA were used as parametric tests. There was a statistically significant difference between the mean scores of pretest and posttest of preservice classroom teachers on behalf of post-test. Comparing the posttests’ scores according to gender, there was a significant difference on behalf of girls, and there was no difference according to age. The sensitiveness of preservice classroom teachers about recycling did not differ according to high school type and residential area in which they live the longest.