Climate Change Awareness, Environmental Attitudes, Environmental Health Education, Health Behavior
Conditions
Keywords
Climate change awareness, Environmental health education, Health education, Cluster randomized controlled trial, Environmental attitude, Environmental behavior
Brief summary
This study aimed to evaluate the effect of a climate change awareness education program on knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors among secondary school students. The study was conducted as a cluster randomized controlled trial in a public secondary school in Istanbul, Türkiye.
Detailed description
This completed cluster randomized controlled trial evaluated the effect of a climate change awareness education program on knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors among seventh-grade secondary school students. The study was conducted in a public secondary school in Istanbul, Türkiye. Two classrooms were randomly assigned to the intervention and control groups. The intervention group received a structured, multi-component education program including classroom-based educational sessions, visual reminder posters, interactive quizzes, and eco-friendly reinforcement materials. The control group continued routine education during the data collection period. Outcomes were assessed at baseline and two weeks after completion of the intervention. After post-test measurements, the education program was also provided to the control group.
Interventions
BEHAVIORALClimate Change Awareness Education Program
The intervention consisted of a structured, multi-component climate change awareness education program developed for seventh-grade secondary school students. The program included classroom-based educational sessions, visual reminder posters, interactive quizzes, and eco-friendly reinforcement materials such as pencils, cloth bags, and flower seeds. Educational topics included the definition and causes of climate change, the difference between weather and climate, the greenhouse effect, greenhouse gases, environmental and human impacts of climate change, climate change effects in Türkiye, zero waste, carbon footprint, water and energy conservation, recycling, and individual actions to combat climate change.
Sponsors
Istanbul Medeniyet University
Study design
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
PREVENTION
Masking
NONE
Masking description
Due to the nature of the educational intervention and self-reported outcome assessments, participants and the researcher could not be blinded. To reduce selection bias, classroom-level randomization was performed after completion of baseline measurements.
Intervention model description
This study used a cluster randomized parallel-group design. Randomization was conducted at the classroom level to reduce the risk of contamination between students.
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
12 Years to 13 Years
Healthy volunteers
Yes
Inclusion criteria
* Being enrolled in the seventh grade of the secondary school where the study was conducted * Being able to speak and understand Turkish * Having written informed consent from a parent or legal guardian * Being willing to participate in the study
Exclusion criteria
* Having a physical or cognitive impairment that prevents communication, watching the educational materials, or completing the measurement tools * Having long-term absenteeism that would prevent regular participation in the education sessions during the study period * Not having written informed consent from a parent or legal guardian * Not being willing to participate in the study
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Change in Climate Change Awareness Score | Baseline and two weeks after completion of the intervention | Students' climate change awareness was assessed using the Climate Change Awareness Scale for Secondary School Students. The scale consists of 16 items and two subdimensions: cognitive awareness and behavioral awareness. Items are scored on a 5-point Likert scale. Total scores range from 16 to 80, with higher scores indicating higher climate change awareness. |
| Change in Environmental Attitude Score | Baseline and two weeks after completion of the intervention | Students' environmental attitudes were assessed using the Environmental Attitude Scale for Secondary School Students. The scale consists of two subscales. The first subscale includes 14 items measuring environmental behaviors, and the second subscale includes 21 items measuring environmental feelings, thoughts, and willingness to act. The total score ranges from 35 to 175, with higher scores indicating more positive environmental attitudes and environmentally responsible behaviors. |
Countries
Turkey (Türkiye)
Contacts
PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATORAynur Aytekin Özdemir
İstanbul Medeniyet University
Outcome results
None listed