7TH GRADE STUDENTS' MENTAL MODELS ABOUT THE CONCEPT OF 'SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT'

The purpose of the current study is to elicit the opinions constructed by 7th grade secondary school students about three components of the concept of sustainable development; environment, society and economy. Study group of the implementation consists of 20 students attending a public secondary school in 2014-2015 academic year. The study employed the phenomenological design, one of the qualitative research methods. Drawing method was used to collect the data of the study. Drawings representing the relationship between humans, nature and economy were prepared in line with the drawing method. Participants were asked to express thoughts evoked by these concepts through drawings and then to write under their drawings what they had wanted to express through their drawings. Then, small group works were conducted for students to illustrate the relationship between these concepts so that the relationship between these concepts could be elicited. In light of the findings of this analysis, it is seen that the cognitive connections established by the students on the components of the sustainable development concept are compatible with this concept