Science Student Teachers’ Ideas About Biological Diversity

The significance of the biodiversity in biology and environmental education has gradually increased in the last years. The main reason is the increasing of the effect of the human activities on the biodiversity and global environmental issues. The aim of this study is to analyze the ideas of the science student teachers on the biological diversity. The data was collected by means of free word association test from 143 science student teachers who are studying in an Education Faculty of a state university during the fall semester. The free association test revealed the conceptual frameworks of the participants regarding the biological diversity. The results indicated the lack of the awareness of the science student teachers regarding the thorough meaning of this concept despite their good knowledge of importance of the biological diversity. The results were discussed with the relevant literature and suggestions were developed. Key w ords: biological diversity, science student teachers, free word association test.