Ahmad Basheer, Ozcan Gulacar, Ayshi Sindiani, Ingo Eilks
This research aimed to evaluate the awareness of pre-service science teachers regarding green chemistry, sustainability, and their perspectives on environmental education. A total of 198 pre-service science teachers from primary and secondary school programs at a teacher education college in Israel participated by completing a 34-item questionnaire. Among these, 29 prospective chemistry and biology teachers engaged in an intervention that explored the chemistry and applications of plastics and bioplastics. Following the intervention, participants completed a post-intervention survey to assess the program’s impact. The pre- and post-survey comparison showed a significant increase in sustainability awareness (1.92 to 4.36) and green chemistry awareness (2.17 to 4.20) among pre-service teachers. Paired-sample t-tests confirmed significant improvements in green chemistry awareness, sustainability awareness, and attitudes toward environmental education. While attitude toward environmental education had the highest pre-survey score, it showed the least variation in post-intervention. All questionnaire subcategories reflected positive increases, demonstrating enhanced awareness and attitudes after the intervention. This innovative approach to integrating sustainability into science education underscores the importance of preparing future educators to address environmental challenges in their teaching. © 2025 by the authors.
Department of Science Education, The Arab Academic College for Education in Israel, Haifa, 366801, Israel; Department of Chemistry, University of California-Davis, Davis, 95833, CA, United States; Department of Biology and Chemistry, University of Bremen, Bremen, 28359, Germany; Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, Universitas Negeri-Malang, Malang, 65145, Indonesia
