Eighth grade students' associations of geographical and environmental concepts

Abstract

The paper presents the construction and use of a free word association test for revealing the scientific conceptual structures of 8(th) grade students, concerning geographical and environmental stimulus words. The test contains eight stimulus words, which retrieve a cluster of associations most of which are based on geographical and environmental education and are studied as associated. Four groups of students from four schools - two in Turkey and two in Bulgaria are comparatively assessed and the results analyzed. Variables, concerning the social status of students and their interest in geography and environment are compared and differences between them are outlined.