The analysis of high school students’ perceptions towards “environment” concept

This research was carried out to put forward high school students’ metaphors towards “environment” concept. The study group of the research consisted of 136 students that attend Prof. Dr. Mümtaz Turhan Social Sciences High School in _stanbul Turkey in the second term of 2009/2010 academic year. The data of the research were gathered by completing “Environment is like… because …” statement. The analysis and interpretation of the data were done using the phenomenological science design and content analysis technique of qualitative research method. According to the findings of the research, high school students produced 60 valid metaphors towards “environment” concept. The metaphors mentioned were classified into seven conceptual categories (environment as the expression of pollution, beauty, life, space, importance, reflection and variation) in terms of their common features. The research results indicate that students produced more metaphors that emphasize the importance of environment followed by the metaphors that express reflection, space and beauty. In the suggestions section, it was emphasized that teachers should teach the concepts via metaphors and such applications should be carried out to different student groups, teachers, teacher candidates and parents.