Investigating the Effects of Connectivism-Based Environment Education on Sixth Grader's Learning and Their Contact with Nature

This paper investigates the effects of environmental education based on Connectivisim Theory on sixth elementary school graders’ environmental learning concepts and their contact with nature. The methodology used in this paper is quasi-experimental with pretest, posttest and control group. Using random cluster sampling method, a total of 55 female sixth graders from Kermanshah Third Education District in 93-94 academic year were selected and randomly assigned to experiment and control groups. The variables were measured using a learning verified test and the standard scale was in contact with nature by Nisbett et al (2009). Validity of measurement tools was confirmed by five experts and reliability of measurement tools was ruled admissible, using re-test and calculating correlation coefficient while the reliability of questionnaires was confirmed by Cronbach Alpha given internal consistency coefficient of data. Analysis of data using covariance analysis given the auxiliary variables (pretest) suggests that there is a significant difference between Connectivisim-based education and the conventional educational methods in schools in terms of learning environmental concepts (sig=0.008) and contact with nature (sig=0.000) which indicates the Connectivisim method, is more effective.