Investigation of pre-service teachers’ information security knowledge and information security awareness through canonical correlation analysis

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between pre-service teachers' information security knowledge and information security awareness. In this context, a correlational research design, one of the general survey models, was used in the study. The sample consisted of a total of 284 pre-service teachers, 112 from the Department of Elementary Mathematics Education and 172 from the Department of Early Childhood Education. In the study, data were collected using the Information Security Knowledge Scale and the Information Security Awareness Scale. Descriptive statistics and canonical correlation analysis were used to analyze the data. The results indicated that pre-service teachers' information security awareness levels were high across the total scale and sub-dimensions. In contrast, their information security knowledge levels were moderate across the total scale and sub-dimensions. In addition, a significant positive relationship was found between pre-service teachers' information security knowledge and awareness. As a result of the canonical correlation analysis, the Information Security Awareness variable set explained 16.2% of the variance in the Information Security Knowledge variable set. Conversely, the Information Security Knowledge variable set explained 5.5% of the variance in the Information Security Awareness variable set.