An Opinion Survey on the Effective Teaching and Learning Methods in the Ministry of Education’s Environmental Courses

An Opinion Survey on the Effective Teaching and Learning Methods in the Ministry of Education’s Environmental Courses S.M. Shobayri, Ph.D. Given that the Ministry of Education is considered to be the key educational organization for global development through preparatory and culturally effective works, the solution for the most basic contemporary problem, i.e. environmental protection, lies in effective environmental courses that can be offered by schools. However, the effective use of such courses would depend on the methods of teaching and learning utilized by teachers and students. To identify the characteristics of such methods in the opinions of both curriculum planners and teachers, a survey was conducted on a sample of 742 teachers and 125 planners selected randomly from among all these two groups who deal with the elementary and junior high school students. The instrument used is specially made for this study and has an internal consistency of 0.89. Results show a difference of opinion between the two groups regarding the most appropriate methods of teaching and learning for the environmental coursed at both levels. These differences can be attributed to the variations seen among students in terms of their motivational needs regarding environmental teachings. Key words: environmental education, curriculum planners, teaching methods, teachers, learning