Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
Environmental Toxicology and Ecology, cilt.2, sa.1, ss.50-65, 2022 (Hakemli Dergi)
Wetland losses and pollution in water resources, which are
increasing on a global scale, affect biodiversity and sustainable
ecosystem structure. The most important trigger of this extinction,
which will cause wide-ranging ecological problems, is human
activities, and necessary steps must be taken quickly to protect its
viability. In the study, it was aimed to develop a measurement tool
that measures the awareness level of children about wetlands in a
valid and reliable way. In the descriptive study, data were obtained
from three different groups. Participants consist of secondary
school students between the ages of 9-15 studying in Turkey.
Explanatory factor analysis was performed by applying the 26-item
candidate scale questions to 245 secondary school students. Then,
confirmatory factor analyzes were carried out with the data
obtained from the participation of 201 students. SPSS 26.0 and
AMOS statistical software were used in the analysis of the data.
Evaluations of secondary school students' awareness of wetlands
were examined on a group of 446 people. As a result of the validity
analyzes made with the data obtained from the application, it was
determined that the scale consisted of 14 items with two factors.
This structure was confirmed by confirmatory factor analysis. The
reliability value of the entire scale was 0.891; 0.704 for the wetland
awareness factor in terms of bird species diversity; The importance
of wetlands and the awareness of the problems experienced factor
was determined to be 0.895. There was no significant difference
between gender, age, and having taken wetland lessons before and
wetland awareness (p: >0.05). It was determined that there was a
significant difference between whether they went to a wetland in
the region they lived in before and the wetland awareness of the
children (U=15052.5 and p: <0.05). Wetland awareness was found
to be higher in students who had gone to wetlands before. It was
concluded that the scale developed according to these results in the
context of the participants in this study, which was carried out with
secondary school students, measured the wetland awareness levels
of children in a valid and reliable way.