THE PERCEPTIONS OF PRIMARY EDUCATION EIGHTH GRADE STUDENTS TOWARDS “EARTHQUAKE”: A PHENOMENOGRAPHIC ANALYSIS LK RET M SEK Z NC SINIF RENC LER N N “DEPREM” KAVRAMINI ALGILAMALARI: FENOMENOGRAF K B R ANAL Z

The purpose of this research is to define and explain how eighth grade students’ perceive “earthquake” concept using phenomenographic research methods. The research group of the study is comprised of 480 eighth grade students in four cities (Ankara, Antalya and Karabük) in Turkey. The data of the research was gathered by students’ completing “In my opinion Earthquake is .....” or “Earthquake means………..according to me” statements. After phenomenographic analysis “6 different global warming definition categories” were determined. These definition categories are; (1) Earthquake is a natural disaster, (2) Earthquake is shaking of the earth, (3) Earthquake is destruction of the buildings and people’s death, (4) Earthquake is a disaster that its effects can be reduced when necessary precautions taken, (5) Earthquake related to earth’s crust and faulty lines, (6) Earthquake is energy release caused by the plate movements. Implications of these findings were discussed and evaluated terms of earthquake education. Bu ara t rman n amac , ilk retim sekizinci s n f rencilerinin “Deprem” kavram n nas l alg lad klar n fenomenografik ara t rma y ntemlerini kullanarak tan mlamak ve a klamakt r. Ara t rman n evrenini Türkiye’deki ilk retim sekizinci s n f rencileri, rneklemini ise Türkiye’deki 3 ilde (Ankara, Antalya ve Karabük) renim g ren toplam 480 ilk retim sekizinci s n f rencisi olu turmaktad r. Ara t rman n verileri rencilerin “Bana g re deprem… demektir” veya “Depremin… anlam na geldi ini dü ünüyorum” cümlesini tamamlamas yla elde edilmi tir. Yap lan fenomenografik analiz sonucunda “6 farkl deprem tan mlama kategorisi” belirlenmi tir. Bu tan mlama kategorileri unlard r: (1) Deprem, bir do al afettir, (2) Deprem yerin sallanmas d r, (3) Deprem, binalar n y k lmas ve insanlar n lmesidir, (4) Deprem gerekli nlemler al nd nda zararlar azalt labilen bir do al afettir, (5) Deprem, yerkabu unun ve faylar n hareketine ba l olarak olu an sars nt lard r, (6) Levha hareketlerine ba l olarak meydana gelen enerji bo almas ve yerin sallanmas d r. Deprem e itimi a s ndan bu bulgular n do urgular tart larak de erlendirilmi tir.