The Effects of Scenario Based Training on Disaster Related Information and Attitude Levels of Secondary School Students

Abstract

At every second in any part of the world people are faced with a disaster risk. When we look at statistical data, many people lose their lives and the countries are suffering serious damage in material terms. When we look at the content of losses, we see that lack of education has made serious contributions to disaster catastrophe. As schools are among major places where education services are provided, they are the first institutions to provide awareness of individuals in disaster training. In today's developing world, there is change and development in the field of education as it is the case for all fields of life. Educational institutions, that have a traditional education understanding structured with a passive approach based on rote-learning, have adopted the philosophy of constructivist approach with 2005 program change in Turkey. Scenario-based teaching (STÖ) method is one of the education methods that take the student at the center and see the teacher as a guide. As disaster training issues are related to a lot of social loss and risk, the program of disaster training at the secondary school level is included in social science courses. This study analyzes the effects of scenario-based disaster training on the disaster-related information and attitude level of secondary school students. The characteristics of the scenario-based teaching model are thought to be appropriate in teaching the disaster topics included in the updated social studies curriculum and in achieving the goals to be attained by the students. The research was conducted using quantitative research methods. In the quantitative dimension of the study, "pre and post test pattern with control group pattern" was used from experimental designs. The study group of the research is composed of 46 students who are attending to 6th grade in a randomly selected secondary school in Kocaeli, which is the most affected province from disaster in Turkey. The application phase of the study lasted 6 weeks. In this process, the experimental group were taught disaster training activities formed by scenario-based training while the control group were taught according to the currently applied traditional approach based on narrative and question-answer method. Disaster education achievement test (ABT), Disaster preparedness attitude scale (AHTÖ) were developed and used to collect the data of the study. The ABT achievement test and the AHTÖ attitude scale were administered twice to the experimental and control groups as pre - test and post - test. In the study, t-test for independent groups and t-test for dependent groups in the SPSS 22 statistical package program were performed to determine the effect of the course on the knowledge and attitudes of the students when the course is taught with the scenarios prepared according to the STÖ method. At the end of the study, it was determined that there was a significant difference between students' post-test attitude scores for disaster preparedness attitudes. Finding end result one, it shows that the STÖ method increases the attitudes towards the AHTÖ positively. It was determined that there was a significant difference between students' post-test academic achievement scores. These findings indicate that the STÖ method positively enhances the ABT-oriented academic achievement levels of students. In this context, it was concluded that Scenario-Based Training contributes to Disaster-Related Information and Attitude Levels of Secondary School Students.