Design and validation of a questionnaire to assess environmental literacy amongst pre-service primary teachers

Abstract

Teacher training in Environmental Education (EE) is essential to ensure the development of an environmentally literate citizenry. In this article, we describe the process followed for the design and validation of an instrument to assess the environmental competencies of primary pre-service teachers. In a first phase the basic competencies that should be assessed among these students were determined according to the concept of "environmental literacy" and the existing scientific literature on the topic. Once delimited these competencies, the analysis variables were defined and the items that would be measured with each of these competencies were developed. Following the opinion and judgement by a panel of experts in EE the content of the questionnaire was validated. To apply statistical reliability testing, a pilot test was conducted. As a result, a validated and reliable questionnaire composed of 89 items with which to evaluate and determine the environmental competences of primary teachers in initial training -adaptable to other groups of similar characteristics- was obtained.