School Studentsa Conceptions about Biodiversity Loss: Definitions, Reasons, Results and Solutions

• Published in: Research in science education (Australasian Science Education Research Association) 2013-12, Vol.43 (6), p.2277-2307
• Main Authors: Kilinc, Ahmet, YeAiltaA, Namik, Kartal, Tezcan, Demiral, Amit, EroAlu, Baris
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 0157-244X; 1573-1898
• DOI: 10.1007/s11165-013-9355-0

Environmental degradation stemming from anthropocentric causes threatens the biodiversity more than ever before, leading scholars to warn governments about the impending consequences of biodiversity loss (BL). At this point, it is of great importance to study the publicas conceptions of BL in order to identify significant educational implications. However, a review of the literature reveals a relatively small body of research about the public understanding of BL. In this qualitative study, we thus strived to elicit Turkish school studentsa conceptions about BL using a written questionnaire including open-ended questions with respect to the definition of biodiversity as well as reasons for, results of and solutions to BL. The sample consisted of 245 school students in a relatively small city. A two-staged content analysis was run on the responses. The results showed that school students most commonly preferred species-focused definitions of biodiversity and understood BL through such various conceptual patterns as, abalance of naturea, aforesta, aglobal warminga, ahuntinga and aindirect conservationa. At the end of the paper, the possible educational implications and future perspectives were discussed.