This study explores how an interdisciplinary disaster education program embedded in a teacher training course influences prospective primary school teachers’ disaster literacy and preparedness. Implemented over a 12-week period within the “Disasters and Disaster Management” course, the intervention employed active learning strategies such as problem-based learning and experiential tasks. Sixty prospective teachers from two provinces in Türkiye (Trabzon and Muş) participated in the study, which used a mixed methods design combining pre/post-behavioral-affective literacy assessments, semi-structured interviews, and participant-generated documents. Findings revealed a statistically significant increase in behavioral disaster literacy scores among participants in Trabzon, while affective changes were more nuanced. Qualitative data indicated that many participants held misconceptions about disaster-related concepts prior to the intervention and that media exposure contributed to heightened emotional responses, particularly fear of earthquakes. Participants reported increased awareness of risk management and preparedness following the program. This study contributes to disaster education literature by highlighting how interdisciplinary and student-centered pedagogical approaches can improve future educators’ capacity to teach disaster preparedness. It also emphasizes the importance of addressing media-driven fear and misinformation in fostering community resilience through education.
Şeyihoğlu et al. (Mon,) studied this question.