Pre- and In-Service Teachers’ Understandings of Atmosphere-related Environmental Issues: The Effects of Major and Gender

Abstract

This study aimed to investigate pre- and in-service teachers’ understandings of the greenhouse effect, global warming, ozone layer depletion, and acid rain in terms of gender and major using a three-tier diagnostic test which has the potential to differentiate respondents with lack of knowledge from those with misconceptions. The data of the research in which the survey method was used were collected using “The Atmosphere-related Environmental Problems Diagnostic Test (AREPDiT).” The sample of the study consisted of 987 respondents (634 pre-service and 353 in-service teachers). The data were analyzed using a three-way ANOVA. The results revealed that although males’ AREPDiT mean score was higher than that of their female counterparts, the difference between them was not statistically significant. Also, science and social studies in-service teachers’ understandings of atmospheric environmental issues were significantly higher than that of pre-service teachers with the same majors, while there was no significant difference between pre- and in-service primary teachers’ understandings of atmosphere-related environmental issues. It was found that the participants had some common misconceptions about atmosphere-related environmental issues. Moreover, both pre- and in-service teachers more commonly use informal sources such as the Internet and TV to access environmental knowledge than formal ones such as seminars and books.