A Review of Research on Environmental Education in Non-traditional Settings in Turkey, 2000 and 2011

The purpose of the present study was to collect and analyze the research on environmental education
in non-traditional settings in Turkey undertaken with various subjects (e.g. students, graduates
and teachers) and published over the years of 2000-2011. For systematic analysis, selected
data-bases and journals were scrutinized across five pre-determined criteria. The close examination
resulted in 11 studies reporting the effects of the interventions (e.g. hands-on practices, field
trip activities) and 4 studies reporting participants’ views on the effects of the interventions in
general. Field trips, ecology-based nature education programs, nature camps and science education
instruction in non-traditional settings were used as educational intervention in the selected
studies. Later, these studies were subjected to content analysis to present the trends and to synthesize
the common findings of the selected studies. The techniques and instructions used as the
intervention in these selected studies were observed to contribute to development of participants’
gains associated with knowledge of the environment and nature, perception of nature, environmental
affect, responsible environment behaviors and conception and understanding of science.