Effectiveness of Climate Change Awareness Education in Secondary School Students

June 12, 2026 updated by: Aynur Aytekin Ozdemir, Istanbul Medeniyet University

The Effect of Climate Change Awareness Education on Knowledge, Attitudes, and Behaviors of Secondary School Students: A Cluster Randomized Controlled Trial

This study aimed to evaluate the effect of a climate change awareness education program on knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors among secondary school students. The study was conducted as a cluster randomized controlled trial in a public secondary school in Istanbul, Türkiye.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

This completed cluster randomized controlled trial evaluated the effect of a climate change awareness education program on knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors among seventh-grade secondary school students. The study was conducted in a public secondary school in Istanbul, Türkiye. Two classrooms were randomly assigned to the intervention and control groups. The intervention group received a structured, multi-component education program including classroom-based educational sessions, visual reminder posters, interactive quizzes, and eco-friendly reinforcement materials. The control group continued routine education during the data collection period. Outcomes were assessed at baseline and two weeks after completion of the intervention. After post-test measurements, the education program was also provided to the control group.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

54

Phase

  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • Turkey (Türkiye)
    • Istanbul
      • Istanbul, Istanbul, Turkey (Türkiye)
        • Istanbul Medeniyet University

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Child

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Being enrolled in the seventh grade of the secondary school where the study was conducted
  • Being able to speak and understand Turkish
  • Having written informed consent from a parent or legal guardian
  • Being willing to participate in the study

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Having a physical or cognitive impairment that prevents communication, watching the educational materials, or completing the measurement tools
  • Having long-term absenteeism that would prevent regular participation in the education sessions during the study period
  • Not having written informed consent from a parent or legal guardian
  • Not being willing to participate in the study

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Prevention
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Climate Change Awareness Education Group
Participants in the intervention group received a structured climate change awareness education program delivered in the classroom setting. The program included three educational sessions supported by visual educational materials, reminder posters, interactive quizzes, and eco-friendly reinforcement materials. The intervention aimed to improve secondary school students' climate change awareness, environmental attitudes, and environmentally responsible behaviors.
Behavioral: Climate Change Awareness Education Program
The intervention consisted of a structured, multi-component climate change awareness education program developed for seventh-grade secondary school students. The program included classroom-based educational sessions, visual reminder posters, interactive quizzes, and eco-friendly reinforcement materials such as pencils, cloth bags, and flower seeds. Educational topics included the definition and causes of climate change, the difference between weather and climate, the greenhouse effect, greenhouse gases, environmental and human impacts of climate change, climate change effects in Türkiye, zero waste, carbon footprint, water and energy conservation, recycling, and individual actions to combat climate change.
No Intervention: Control Group
Participants in the control group continued their routine education and did not receive any climate change awareness education during the data collection period. After completion of the post-test measurements, the education program was also provided to the control group.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Change in Climate Change Awareness Score
Time Frame: Baseline and two weeks after completion of the intervention
Students' climate change awareness was assessed using the Climate Change Awareness Scale for Secondary School Students. The scale consists of 16 items and two subdimensions: cognitive awareness and behavioral awareness. Items are scored on a 5-point Likert scale. Total scores range from 16 to 80, with higher scores indicating higher climate change awareness.
Baseline and two weeks after completion of the intervention
Change in Environmental Attitude Score
Time Frame: Baseline and two weeks after completion of the intervention
Students' environmental attitudes were assessed using the Environmental Attitude Scale for Secondary School Students. The scale consists of two subscales. The first subscale includes 14 items measuring environmental behaviors, and the second subscale includes 21 items measuring environmental feelings, thoughts, and willingness to act. The total score ranges from 35 to 175, with higher scores indicating more positive environmental attitudes and environmentally responsible behaviors.
Baseline and two weeks after completion of the intervention

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Istanbul Medeniyet University

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Aynur Aytekin Özdemir, Istanbul Medeniyet University

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

November 1, 2025

Primary Completion (Actual)

January 16, 2026

Study Completion (Actual)

January 16, 2026

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

June 12, 2026

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

June 12, 2026

First Posted (Actual)

June 17, 2026

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

June 17, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

June 12, 2026

Last Verified

June 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • 2025/020-1570

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

IPD Plan Description

Individual participant data will not be shared due to the involvement of minor participants and confidentiality restrictions.

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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