ENVIRONMENTAL PERCEPTION ABOUT MARINE AND COASTAL ECOSYSTEMS: EVALUATION THROUGH A RESEARCH INSTRUMENT BASED ON MODEL OF ECOLOGICAL VALUES

The first aim of research is to propose a research instrument based on Wiseman and Bogner's Model of Ecological Values, the “Coastal Environment Questionnaire” (CEQ), specifically developed to evaluate the Environmental Perception about marine and coastal ecosystems. The second aim is to explore, using CEQ, the position on the categories from Model of Ecological Values of some basic education students and some pre-service biology teachers from cities located near coastal areas from Brazil. CEQ was modified from “The Environment Questionnaire” (TEQ), which consists of a questionnaire composed of 16 items with Likert-type responses. The first process to have elaborated the new instrument changed the general situations described in the items of TEQ (most related with land environments) to situations related to marine and coastal environments. CEQ has been used with: 63 pre-service biology teachers from a non-coastal city; 79 basic education students from a non-coastal city; and 74 basic education students from a coastal city. All pre-service teachers were placed at Preservation+Utilization- category (100%). However, most students were placed at the Preservation+Utilization- category (around 70%), followed by Preservation+Utilization+ (around 25%), regardless their city location. It is expected that CEQ can be useful on research aim to better understand the perception about marine and coastal environments, contributing to development and evaluation of future Environmental Educational program focus on these important ecosystems.