Developing a unit from the geography textbook in light of the circular economy and measuring its effectiveness in developing students' understanding and comprehension of geography and rationalizing consumption

Abstract

The study aimed to develop a unit from the geography textbook in light of the circular economy and measure its effectiveness in enhancing geographical understanding and comprehension, as well as promoting consumption rationalization among students. To achieve this objective, a quasi-experimental approach was adopted. The study tools included a geographical understanding and comprehension test consisting of 20 questions and a consumption rationalization scale comprising 26 items distributed across three dimensions: electricity, water, and economic activities. The validity and reliability of these tools were verified. The study was conducted on a sample of 60 ninth-grade female students from Aisha Al-Ba'ouniyah Basic Mixed School in the Northern Mazar District, divided into two groups: an experimental group (30 students) who studied using the developed unit and a control group (30 students) who studied using the conventional unit. The results revealed statistically significant differences in the scores of the study participants on the geographical understanding and comprehension test based on the instructional unit (developed vs. conventional), in favor of the experimental group who studied the developed unit, with an effect size of 40.7%. Additionally, the results indicated statistically significant differences in the consumption rationalization scale scores, both at the overall level and across all its dimensions, favoring the experimental group who studied the developed unit, with an effect size of 75.1%. The study recommended utilizing the developed instructional unit in light of the circular economy due to its significance in enhancing students' geographical understanding and comprehension, as well as their consumption rationalization. It also urged geography textbook authors to incorporate indicators and concepts of the circular economy in textbooks during the authoring process.