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Asia-Pacific Forum on Science Learning and Teaching, Volume 19, Issue 1, Article 15 (Jun., 2018) |
How much plastic waste is released into the environment each day? How do these wastes dissolve in the environment? What is the impact of such rapid consumption of resources on nature? How many plastic or glass bottles etc. finds their way to the garbage on an average day? Will our planet be able to cope with such a careless level of consumption of energy resources? Will our resources run out some day? Questions of these sorts are products of the damage ever growing human population inflicts on the environment. Humanity's uninhibited use of natural resources is bound to cause problems for future generations. The countries all around the world are trying to come up with collaborative solutions to cope with this problem. One such solution is through the concept of "sustainable development". Sustainable development came to the forefront of the global agenda in response to the report by the World Commission on Environment and Development called the Brundtland Commission, published in 1987. Sustainable development refers to a program to ensure that natural resources are utilized to meet the requirements of future generations without actually destroying the resources (Brundtland Report, 1987; Littledyke & Manolas, 2010). In order to draw sufficient attention to sustainable development, the United Nations proclaimed the period 2005-2014 as the "Decade of Education for Sustainable Development". The main vision of that decade-long plan is to build a world allowing all to learn the values, behavior, and life style required for a sustainable future and social transformation (UNESCO, 2007). Education constitutes the foundation of sustainable development. The basic vision of the curriculum in Turkey, updated in 2013, also emphasizes sustainable development. The programs underline the issues and concepts concerning environmental education with respect to the achievement of sustainable development. One such concept is recycling.
Recycling, in this context, constitutes a crucial part of sustainable development (Hopper & Nielsen, 1991; Oskamp, 1995; Valle, Reis, Menezes & Rebelo, 2004; Graedel, Allwood, Birat, Buchert, Hagelüken, Reck, Sibley & Sonnemann, 2011; Eser, Çelik, Çay & Akgümüş, 2016). The rapid growth of world population leads to a state of affairs where the collection and storage of waste poses a true problem. Every passing day necessitates new sites of waste storage. That is why from 80s on in particular, recycling became a part of our lives. Recycling refers to the physical or chemical processing of solid waste, enabling the use of the materials as raw materials for a second time (Çimen & Yılmaz, 2012). As the existing raw materials in nature become rarer and rarer, an awareness of gradual exhaustion of most resources arisesthe need to make optimal use of raw materials and resources clear (Yaptık & Aydın, 1991). The advent of recycling helped ease the strain on waste storage, as well as enabling savings on the use of raw materials and natural resources. Recycling is crucial in terms of sorting the waste at source, and hence reducing the volume of trash and the level of environmental impact (UNESCO, 1992). Recycling can help prevent pollution and ignorant destruction of natural resources (Spiegelman & Sheehan, 2004). Schools, in turn, play crucial roles in ensuring that students understand the concept of recycling (Connor, 1989). Thanks to their education, students would understand what recycling is, and which materials can be gained through recycling. Indeed Gamba & Oskamp (1994) note the ignorance of people with respect to the concept of recycling, as one of the obstacles to effective recycling. In this perspective, schools have very important duties in developing an awareness of the concept of recycling.
The concept of recycling appears first in 4th grade, under the titles "Living things and life" and "Human and environment relation". In this grade students design a project to protect and enhance the environment.Further grades also discuss this concept with a view to helping contribute to the development of the awareness of recycling. Yet, the level of emphasis on the concept of recycling in Turkish education programs is deemed to be insufficient (Çelik, 2011). Çelik (2011) investigated the recycling practices at selected primary schools in a number of districts at various levels of socioeconomic development, through a detailed analysis of education activities regarding the recycling of packaging waste, as provided in primary school curricula. A total of 944 students from the 3rd, 4th and 5th grades in the Istanbul province took part in the study. That study reached the conclusion that the information regarding the recycling of packaging waste constituted only an insufficient part of the curriculum, and the information provided did not have the continuity required. The programs' shortcomings regarding information on recycling, and the limited nature of the information the students have on this issue, underlines once more the need for the present study. A glance at the studies on the concept of recycling reveals that such studies more often than not try to establish the prevailing attitudes (Harman, Aksan & Çelikler, 2015; Kışoğlu & Yıldırım, 2015; Kok & Siero, 1985; McCarthy & Shrum 1994; Oskamp, Harrington, Edwards, Sherwood, Okuda, & Swanson, 1991; Yaşar, İnal Kaya & Uyanık, 2012) views and the level of awareness (Cici, Şahin, Şeker, Görgen & Deniz, 2005; Çimen & Yılmaz, 2012; Karatekin, 2014; Kok & Siero, 1985; Yaşar, İnal, Kaya & Uyanık, 2012). An in-depth look into the studies carried out with respect to the concept of recycling (Yaşar et al. 2012; Çimen & Yılmaz 2012) reveals that the applied studies on the teaching of the concept of recycling at the primary school level were rare. In this context, the need for experimental studies to contribute to a better understanding of the concept of recycling on part of the students is certain. Şallı, Dağal, Küçükoğlu, Niran & Tezcan (2013) carried out a study with 60-72 months old children, to investigate the effectiveness of the recycling program implemented on the basis of the project-based learning perspective with family participation. The study had both experiment and control groups, and found that, in comparison to the control group, the students in the experiment group who were subjected to the project-based learning perspective with family participation had covered more ground in terms of student development.
There are also projects supported by the Ministry of Education, albeit in limited numbers, on the recycling of valuable waste. "Recycling for the Future Project", "Recycling Project for Books Provided Free of Charge", "Harmony with the Environment Project", "Small Things Help Replenish the Nature Environment Education Project" are but a few of such projects (Çelik, 2011). The inclusion, of projects to help students perceive what the concept of recycling means in the learning environment, would help in increasing the level of awareness of the students.
Project-based learning is a method where the student is the active party in terms of helping students gain information, skills, attitudes, values and scientific concepts, and enabling them to seek solutions to real-life problems (Krajcik, Czerniak & Berger, 1999). The project-method provides the students with the opportunity to make applied use of their knowledge and skills (Korkmaz & Kaptan, 2001). Project activities allow students to establish the causal relationships between the knowledge gained in the classes and real life problems (Blumenfeld et al., 1991; Bransford, Brown & Cocking, 2000). Projects contribute to the development of a creative classroom environment for students (Shearer & Quinn, 1996). Projects developed in project-based learning environments enable students to learn through experience, and hence to achieve lasting learning by having fun at the same time (Winn, 1997). In project-based learning environments, the students achieve in-depth learning of the information presented, and have more success in adapting the knowledge to new cases they may come across later (Solomon, 2003). Project-based learning environments help reinforce the students' feelings of responsibility towards their physical and social environment (Dori & Tal, 2000). A glance at the existing literature reveals a number of studies to understand the impact of project-based learning environments on the learning levels of the students, through the process from primary school to university (Ayan, 2012; Barak & Dori, 2004; Bayram & Seloni, 2014; Çalıker & Balım, 2012; Krajcik, Blumenfeld, Marx & Soloway, 1994). The literature, however, lacks case studies supported by project-based learning environments at the primary school level, with respect to the concept of recycling, therefore underlining the need for such studies.
The aim of the study is to investigate the impact of project-based learning environments on the conceptual understanding of 4th grade primary school students, regarding the concept of recycling. The following research questions guide this study:
- What is the impact of project-based learning environments on the conceptual understanding of the 4th grade primary school students regarding the concept of recycling?
- What is the opinion of the 4th grade primary school students on the concept of recycling?
