Raising Zero Waste Awareness with Originally Designed Educational Games and Pre-service Teachers' Views on Practice

Abstract

This study aimed to examine the effects of originally designed educational games on the Zero Waste awareness levels of science pre-service teachers and to determine the opinions of pre-service teachers about the practice process. A mixed-method research model, using both quantitative and qualitative research methods, was employed to obtain data. The study employed a semi-experimental design with a pretest – posttest control group to collect quantitative data and a semi-structured interview technique to obtain qualitative data. The study group consisted of 40 pre-service science teachers studying in the third year of a state university in Turkey during the fall semester of the 2021-2022 academic year. The first result of the study showed that there was no significant difference between the pre-test scores of the experimental and control groups, but a significant difference was found between the post-test scores in favor of the experimental group. According to the pre-service teachers, the “Kullan At’ma (Don't Dispose)” game was the most enjoyable, while “Düşün, Net, Kağıdı Yok Et (Think Clear, Destroy Paper)” was the most difficult. The games played provided cognitive, affective and psychomotor gains.