Examining the Effect of Teaching Greenhouse Effect to Secondary School Students With System Dynamics Tools in Terms of Different Variables

Authors : Melda Demirtaş, İbrahim Ünal, Gaye Ceyhan

Pages : 612-639

Doi:10.17522/balikesirnef.1786858

View : 120 | Download : 210

Publication Date : 2025-12-29

Article Type : Research Paper

Abstract :The present study investigated the impact of teaching the greenhouse effect with system dynamics tools to eighth-grade middle school students enrolled in an environmental education and climate change course on various variables. The study employed a quasi-experimental design based on a pretest-posttest model with experimental and control groups. The study sample consisted of 194 students enrolled in an environmental education and climate change course at a public school in Malatya. Three data collection tools were used to address the research questions: the Cause-and-Effect Relationship Scale, the Constructivist Learning Environment Scale, and the Global Warming Attitude Scale. The findings indicated that system dynamics tools significantly enhanced students\\\' understanding of cause-and-effect relationships and their perception of constructivist learning environments. While no statistically significant between-group difference was found for global warming attitudes post-intervention, the experimental group showed substantial improvement in attitude scores, demonstrating the potential of system dynamics tools in fostering both cognitive and affective learning outcomes in environmental education. These results suggest that incorporating system dynamics approaches into science curricula could enhance students’ systems thinking capabilities and create more engaging learning environments for complex environmental topics, though longer intervention periods may be needed to achieve sustained attitudinal changes.
Keywords : Sistem dinamikleri araçları, ortaokul öğrencileri, sera etkisi, fen öğretimi

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