In this study, the survey and correlation analysis was done to investigate students' and teachers' knowledge of global climate change and their action towards this change. The purpose of this study was to provide practical information on environmental...
In this study, the survey and correlation analysis was done to investigate students' and teachers' knowledge of global climate change and their action towards this change. The purpose of this study was to provide practical information on environmental education necessary for students and teachers.
The number of participants of this study was consist of 88 elementary school students, 82 middle school students, 78 high school students, and 56 teachers living in Seoul. The result of this survey was analyzed by using various measures such as frequency analysis, descriptive statistics, t-test, one-way ANOVA, Kruskal-Walis test, χ²(Chi-square), Scheffé post hoc test, and Pearson correlation assay with SPSS 12.0.
The results of this study are as follows:
First, it was found that the knowledge of climate change among elementary school students, middle school students and high school students was insufficient, which led to relatively low score. And there was no significant difference in the knowledge of climate change among grade levels(p> .05). By gender, middle school male's perception of climate change was higher than that of middle school female's (p< .01). The male participants were more knowledgeable about the cause and effect of global climate change on the environment. On the other hand, high school female's perception of climate change was higher than that of high school male's(p< .01). It was concluded that the high school females were more knowledgeable about the effect and countermeasure of the global climate change.
Second, the score of students' action towards climate change was relatively high. It was found that the elementary school students, middle school students, and high school students were willing to take appropriate action towards climate change. By the grade level, the score of the elementary school students's action toward climate change was the highest. There was a gap between elementary and middle school students, and there was also a gap between elementary and high school students(p< .05). However, there was no significant difference in taking action between middle school students and high school students(p> .05). Additionally, there was also no significant difference in gender(p> .05).
Third, the knowledge of climate change among teachers was sufficient, and they were able to carry out appropriate action towards climate change. Teachers were only slightly more knowledgeable about climate change that of students. In other words, there was no significant difference in taking action towards the climate change between students and teachers(p> .05).
Finally, it was found that there was a positive correlation among elementary school students and high school students in having knowledge and taking action toward the climate change(p< .01). But there was no correlation of knowledge and action among middle school students and teachers(p> .05).
For a follow-up study, the research should not only be limited to students' knowledge and action toward climate change, but also their behavioral beliefs. In addition, an effective curriculum for environment education is needed to teach students and teachers about the environment more in depth.