Science Teacher Candidates' Cognitive Structures Related to the Concept of Recycling

This study aims to determine the cognitive structures of science teacher candidates regarding the concept of “recycling” using the Word Association Test (WAT). In this study, designed according to the case study design among qualitative research methods, the content analysis technique was used. This study was conducted with 48 science teacher candidates in the autumn semester of the 2022-2023 academic year. According to the findings obtained with WAT, the concepts found in the cognitive structures of science teacher candidates regarding “recycling” are “the results of recycling”, “the importance of recycling”, “the benefits of recycling”, “the purpose of recycling”, “the definition of recycling”, “waste that is recycled”, “conceptual misconceptions”, “the stages of recycling” and “what recycling indicates”. The results of this study show that science teacher candidates have some misconceptions about recycling. Furthermore, it is observed that science teacher candidates define the “concept of recycling” mostly in non-scientific and superficial sentences. According to the findings of this study, it is observed that science teacher candidates define the “concept of recycling” more in non-scientific and superficial sentences. It has been determined that the concepts in the cognitive structures of science teacher candidates regarding the concept of recycling are most prevalent in the “results of recycling” category and least prevalent in the “what recycling indicates” category. The study's findings suggest that science teacher training programmes should include courses that provide up-to-date information on environmental issues and incorporate contemporary learning activities.