Examination of Secondary School Students' Conceptual Association Forms on Some Socioscientific Issues Related to Biodiversity

Abstract

This study examined the conceptual association styles of secondary school students regarding the concepts of Caretta caretta turtles, Mediterranean monk seals, endemic species, endangered creatures, hunting and pesticides. These topics were selected by the researchers as they are important socio-scientific issues related to biodiversity. In accordance with the study's objectives, phenomenology, a qualitative research method, was employed. The study group consisted of 14 secondary school students (8 boys and 6 girls) studying at the Science and Art Centre (BİLSEM) in a Turkish province during the 2022–23 academic year. The participating students were given the aforementioned concepts as key concepts and were asked to write down the first five words that came to mind. The data collected through the word association test were then checked separately by each researcher and expert opinions were sought. Once a consensus had been reached, the data were divided into themes and conceptual categories according to their common characteristics. The findings were then evaluated by creating frequency and percentage tables. Answers left blank or not related to the key concept were not evaluated. This revealed the cognitive structures of secondary school students regarding some socio-scientific issues related to biodiversity. The results of the research showed that the students did not have much scientific knowledge about these concepts.