INVESTIGATION OF ENVIRONMENTAL PROBLEM SOLVING SKILLS OF PRESCHOOL AGE CHILDREN

The study was conducted to determine problem-solving skills of preschool age children on environment as well as factors affecting this skill. For this purpose, quantitative and qualitative research methods were used together in the study and the research was designed in the screening model. This study is a descriptive type research since it questions the present status. The study group consisted of 168 children studying a preschool in the Province of Malatya. The random-sampling method was used to select the participating children. The Introductory Information Form and the Scale for Problem Solving in Environmental Education (SPSEE) developed by Ulutaş and Sağlam (2016) were used for research data collection. A semi-structured interview form developed by the researcher was used to perform the interviews with parents. As a result of the SPSEE analysis, 15 children with the lowest scores among the participating children were identified and interviews were performed with their parents in order to obtain in-depth information in this regard. Content analysis was used to analyze qualitative data, and one-way ANOVA was used for quantitative data analysis. As a result of the study, the results of both analyses were found to overlap.