Bu araştırmada ortaokul öğrencilerinin coğrafya okuryazarlık düzeylerinin farklı değişkenlerle olan ilişkisi ortaya konulmuştur. Araştırmanın çalışma evreni, Adıyaman ilinde bulunan ortaokullarda öğrenim gören öğrencilerden oluşmaktadır. Araştırmanın örneklemi ise Adıyaman ilinde seçilen 41 ortaokulda 7. sınıflarda öğrenim gören 1678 öğrenciden oluşmaktadır. Araştırmada betimsel tarama modeli kullanılmıştır. Araştırma, pilot ve asıl uygulama olarak iki basamakta gerçekleştirilmiştir. Araştırmada veri toplamak amacıyla araştırmacı tarafından geliştirilen "Coğrafya Okuryazarlık Testi" kullanılmıştır. Araştırma sonucunda, ortaokul 7. sınıf öğrencilerinin coğrafya okuryazarlık düzeylerinin yeterli düzeyde olmadığı ortaya çıkmıştır. Öğrencilerin coğrafya okuryazarlık düzeylerinin, cinsiyet değişkeni açısından anlamlı farklılık göstermediği belirlenmiştir. Ebevylerin eğitim seviyesi, öğrencilerin genel not ortalamaları, sosyal bilgiler ders notu ortalamaları, öğrenim gördükleri yerleşim yerleri, yaşadıkları yerleşim yerleri, öğrenim gördükleri sınıf mevcutları, ziyaret ettikleri il sayıları ve takip ettikleri medya kaynakları açısından coğrafya okuryazarlık düzeyleri Araştırmadan elde edilen bulgular neticesinde var olan durumun iyileştirilmesine ve ileride yapılacak olan bilimsel araştırmalara yönelik bazı öneriler sunulmuştur

In this research, relationship between secondary school students' geographic literacy levels and different variables is revealed. Population of the research consists of students in the secondary schools in Adıyaman. Research sample consists of 1678 students at the 7th grade in 41 secondary schools selected by the researcher in Adıyaman. Descriptive survey model was used in the research. The research was applied in two steps as pilot application and original application. "Geographic Literacy Test" developed by the researcher was used in order to gather data. At the end of the research, it is found out that geographic literacy levels of the students are notdetermined that geographic literacy levels of the students do not vary significantly in terms of genre. However, geographic literacy levels of the students vary significantly in terms of education levels of the students' parents, their grade point averages, their course grade averages in Social Sciences, the settlements where they study, the settlements where they live, their class sizes, the number of cities they visit and the media they follow. Based on the findings of the research, some suggestions are put forward to enhance the present situation and for scientific studies in future It is necessary for an individual to undergo a multidirectional education in order to know himself/herself, to be aware of his/her potential, to know state and social institutions he/she lives in and to integrate national values with universal values. Social Sciences course in primary education has an important role for him/her to acquire the mentioned behaviors. Geography, one of the disciplines composing Social Sciences course is an important point of this multidirectional development process, too. Through Geography, individuals recognize their environment and can gain ability to evaluate and make sense of many geographic incidents occurring in their environment and in the world. This multidirectional education evaluation and interpretation process requires a geographic reasoning skill. Based on the opinion to reveal to what extent secondary school students in our country have this skill which we can also name as geographic literacy, the geographic levels of 7th grade students were tried to be found out in this research. The research is expected to contribute to the literature related to the issue and to be a scientific data source for those who will study on this field. The descriptive survey method was used in the research. In a research, social events and facts can be revealed as they are, without undergoing any change, by using the descriptive method. These kinds of examinations try to reveal available situations, conditions and features as they are (Aslantürk, 1999). The population of the research consists of 7th grade students in secondary schools in Adıyaman. The research sample consists of 1678 students in selected 41 secondary schools in Adıyaman. That being economical and can be practiced was considered while the working group was being determined. The simple random sampling method was used as sampling method. This grade was chosen because it is the last grade Social Sciences course is taught and it is thought that students in this grade have all acquisitions of Social Sciences course and have skills that may be related to geographic literacy. After it was found out that topics related to all acquisitions that could be used in this research were taught in Social Sciences course, the geographic literacy test was carried out in the determined schools in May, in 2012-2013 education year. The pilot scheme was carried out for 258 7th grade students in 3 determined secondary schools. At the end of the research, the obtained findings regarding the basic problem of the research revealed that 7th grade students' geographic literacy levels were unsatisfactory. It appeared that the students' average score for the geographic literacy test was about 13.40. This research finding is similar, to great extent, to the results of previous researches on geographic literacy. Cross (1987), MC. Kinney et al (1988), Wood et al (1988), Bein (1990), Chiodo (1993), Trygestad (1997), Hardwick (2000), Thomas (2001), Roper (2002), Nolan (2002), Sieverston (2005), Oigara (2006), Gençtürk (2009), Demirkaya (2009), concluded in their studies that the participants' geographic information was unsatisfactory. Dylan (2011), calculated the participants' point average as 65 % in his study to determine geographic literacy level of undergraduates. Whinship (2004), Mhishi (2013) found the participants' levels satisfactory in their studies. In this study, a significant difference between gender of the students and their geographic literacy points did not appear. Gender can be said not to make a determining difference on geographic literacy. Some studies supporting this result of the research are available. Bein (1990), Torrens (2001), and Le Vaseure (1999) stated in their researches that gender is not a determining factor in terms of geographic literacy. Kitchin (1996) attained differences between women and men at the end of his research. Trygestad (1997), Wood et al, (1988), NAEP (1994), Chiodo (1993), Whinship (2004), Cross (1987), Thomas (2001), National Geographic Roper Survey (2002), Oigara (2006), Eve et al (1994), Hardwick et al (2000), Nolan (2002), Dylan (2011), Gençtürk (2009), Tuna (2013) and Demirkaya (2013) found out in their researches that men were more successful than women. MC. Kinney et al (1998) revealed in their researches that female students performed more successfully than male students. In this research, based on the findings, students' geographic levels were found out to being poorer from urban areas to rural areas. A significant difference was found out between the variable of dwelling unit students were educated and their geographic literacy scores. That geographic literacy levels of students in towns, in county towns and in city centers are better than students' in villages. There are national and international studies supporting this result of the research. NAEP (1994), Torrens (2001), Donovan (1993), Cin and Yazıcı (2002), Cin (2008), Gençtürk (2009), Oigara (2006), stated that dwelling unit a person lives in is influential on different geographic literacy scores. Whinship (2004) stated that in high school period, residence does not affect geographic literacy in a determining way. It was found out at the end of the analyses to determine the impact of parents' education level on geographic literacy that the higher parents' education levels were, the better students' geographic literacy levels were. The previous researches support this result of the research. Gençtürk (2009), revealed that preservice teachers whose parents were illiterate had better average scores for geographic literacy than the ones whose parents got undergraduate or higher education. He also revealed that the difference was significant. Eve et al (1994) concluded that father's education level is a bit more determining on student than mother's education level. In NAEP's (1994) research a significant relationship between family's education level and student's success was concluded. Varışlı (2009) stated that parents' education level affects student's knowledge level about environment in a positive way. It appeared that there was a significant difference between geographic literacy scores and the variable of the number of cities students visited. According to the attained results, geographic literacy levels of students visiting more than 4 cities were better than the ones visiting 1 or 2 cities, 2 or 3 cities, 3 or 4 cities and than the ones not visiting any place. Some studies supporting this result of the research are available. Bein (1990), Nolan (2002), Winship (2004) and Oigara (2006), concluded that travelling experience affects geographic literacy positively. Cross (1987), Eve et al (1994), could not attain a significant relationship between travelling experience and geographic literacy. Demirkaya (2009), found out that students visiting 5-6 or more cities got better scores for geographic literacy test than other students. However, he could not find a significant difference. As for the impact of students' academic success on their geographic literacy levels, it appeared that students whose academic success were better had better geographic literacy levels. A significant difference between geographic literacy scores and the variable of students' grade point averages was revealed. Geographic literacy levels of the students whose grade point averages were between 2-3, between 3-4 and between 4-5 were better than the students whose grade point averages were between 1-2. There are some studies supporting this result of the research. Dylan (2011), Eve et al (1994), found out that students having good academic averages got better results. Gençtürk (2009), stated in his research that academic success is not a determining factor for geographic literacy. From this respect, results of both researches are different from each other. Demirkaya (2009), attained another remarkable conclusion. He revealed that preservice teachers having poor grade point averages got the best average. Classroom size was not considered as a variable in previous researches on geographic literacy. According to the results obtained based on this variable in this research, it was revealed that geographic literacy levels of students studying in classrooms size of which ranging from 0 to 20 were better than the ones studying in classrooms size of which ranging from 21 to 30 and more than 31. No study supporting this result of the research positively or negatively has been found in the literature. A significant difference between students' geographic literacy scores and their printed, visual and auditory media follow up was found out. It was revealed that students in whose daily lives television and internet took place intensely had better geographic literacy levels, but students following printed media resources less had poorer geographic literacy levels. Researchers have had different conclusions in terms of decisiveness of using media resources. Donovan (1993), Torrens (2001), Nolan (2002), Oigara (2006), Gençtürk (2009), Demirkaya (2009), stated that no significant relationship is available between preservice Social Sciences teachers' frequency of following media resources such as television, internet, radio and newspapers. According to Sievertson (2005) and Donovan (1993), although watching television does not have important contribution to geographic knowledge, reading newspapers influences it positively. Also, some researchers attained different results despite these positive results. Whinship (2004), could not find a significant difference between those using media resources regularly. The following suggestions are submitted based on the results of the research. It is thought that enrichment of content and acquisitions of Social Sciences course in terms of geographic literacy will be influential on process of improvement of students' geographic literacy ability. Therefore, it is considered that attachment of more content, acquisitions and activities related to geographic literacy to the curriculum of Social Sciences course create positive consequences. While giving students responsibilities (assignments), teachers can demand research and project assignments contributing to development of students' geographic literacy skills. In order to create awareness of geography literacy, a competition for geography literacy can be organized and an award under the name of " Geography Literacy Award " can be given to students by the Ministry of Education. Informative leaflets could be prepared to enhance parents' consciousness of geography literacy. Different activities both parents and their students are involved in can be applied. Television programs, documentaries, websites and interesting radio programs including different content and broadcasts related to Geography could be prepared to improve geographic literacy. Journals, not only teaching but also entertaining, drawing interest of students in primary and secondary schools can be prepared. Short trips and tours for students will provide positive contribution to enhance students' geographic knowledge and recognizing the cities and the country they live in. It could be said that decreasing classroom sizes will have a positive influence on enhancing students' geographic literacy levels.