The Effect of the Environmental Issue Analysis Instruction on the Decision Making Ability of Middle School Students

환경쟁점분석 수업이 중학생의 의사 결정력에 미치는 효과

This study investigated the effect of the environmental issue analysis instruction on the decision making ability of middle school students. A pretest-posttest control group design was employed. The participants for the research were 288 1st grade male students in middle school in Seoul, the environmental issue analysis lesson group consisted of 142 members and the non-environmental education group consisted of 146 members. The cognitive level of the students were divided into three groups-concrete, transition, formal-as the result of GALT test. Students take issue analysis lessons during 6 weeks, one lesson per a week. Students had studied through worksheets reconstructed and developed by researcher on basis of issue analysis suggested by Ramsey et al. (1997). The results of the research were followings: After lesson for environmental issue analysis, all of the students were improved in decision-making ability regardless of cognitive level (p<.05). Especially, decision-making ability of the transition group students was improved to a high degree. Scores of searching relevant information, generation of alternatives, identification of values for selection criteria, the evaluation of alternatives' merits and demerits, prediction of consequence were increased in experimental group (p<.05). But the ability of selection of alternatives according to value was not reached statistically meaningful improvement. The decision-making ability of the control group students was not improved but ability of selection of alternatives, the evaluation of consequence were increased (p<.05).