Determination of the Istanbul Strait Blue Belt Movement Project Effectiveness

The purpose of this study is to improve students’ knowledge and awareness regarding the scale of pollution that has engulfed the ？stanbul Strait as well as the general threats faced by the ecosystem. Towards this end, 2310 1-12 grade students were sampled from schools in Istanbul to serve as study participants. To collect the research data, two different instruments namely Personal Information Questionnaire and Information Tests developed by the researchers were used. When the data collected with the questionnaire was examined, it was observed that students’ knowledge concerning marine pollution generally came from their teachers and the Internet. Students who took most information from the Internet were those in the high school. The least source of information to students however was civil society organizations. With respect to the courses at school, the students reported taking most information regarding pollution of the sea from their science and social studies’ textbooks. When it comes to the results obtained using the tests administered, it was observed that the average scores for posttest were higher than the average scores for pretest across all the levels. In order to examine whether or not the difference between the posttest average scores and the pretest average scores is significant, a t-test analysis was performed; and the results revealed that across all the levels, the differences observed between the average scores for posttest and pretest are significant. These findings and results provide concrete supports for the success of the educational training implemented in the study