Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-r5fsc Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-24T19:43:39.306Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

University Students' Attitude to the Environment: An Australian/USA Comparison and the Effects of An Educational Program

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 June 2015

Larry R. Ridener
Larry R. Ridener*
Affiliation:
Radford University, Radford, Virginia
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

Significant differences were found between a pretest measurement of environmental attitudes of a sample of tertiary students from the USA and that of a similar sample of Australian students; the latter scored higher on the total scale used to measure attitudes, and on all but one of the subscales. After an educational program USA students showed significant increases in scores for the total scale and for all the subscales so that they scored significantly higher on two subscales than Australian students. Discussion of these changes in measured attitudes refers to the institutional processes of education, to changes in environmentalism and to notions of dependence on science and technology for the resolution of environmental issues.

Type
Research Article
Information
Australian Journal of Environmental Education , Volume 13 , 1997 , pp. 77 - 84
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1997

References

Armstrong, J. B. & Impara, J. C. 1991, ‘The impact of an environmental education program on knowledge and attitude’, Journal of Environmental Education, vol. 22, no. 4, pp. 36–40.Google Scholar
Berger, P. L. & Luckmann, T. 1966, The Social Construction of Reality: A Treatise in the Sociology of Knowledge, Anchor Books, New York, New York.Google Scholar
Blaikie, N. W. H. 1992, ‘The nature and origins of ecological world views: an Australian study’, Social Science Quarterly, vol. 73, pp. 144–65.Google Scholar
Blaikie, N. W. H. 1993, ‘Education and environmentatism: ecological world views and environmentally responsible behaviour’, Australian Journal of Environmental Education, vol. 9, pp. 1–20.Google Scholar
Brechin, S. R. & Kempton, W. 1994, ‘Global environmentalism: a challenge to the postmaterialism thesis?’, Social Science Quarterly, vol. 75, no. 2, pp. 245–69.Google Scholar
Brothers, C. C., Former, R. W., & Mayer, V. J. 1991, ‘The impact of television news on public environmental knowledge’, Journal of Environmental Education, vol. 22, no. 4, pp. 22–29.Google Scholar
Buttel, F. H. 1987, ‘New directions in environmental sociology’, Annual Review of Sociology, vol. 13, pp. 465–88.Google Scholar
Buttel, F. H. 1992, ‘Environmentalisation: origins, processes, and implications for rural social change’, Rural Sociology, vol. 57, no. 1, pp. 1–27.Google Scholar
Campbell, D. T. & Stanley, J. C. 1963, Experimental and Quasi-experimental Designs for Research, Rand McNally, Chicago, Illinois.Google Scholar
Clements, D. & Battista, M. 1990, ‘Constructivist learning and teaching’, Arithmetic Teacher, vol. 38, no. 1, pp. 34–35.Google Scholar
Cockerham, W. T. 1995, Medical Sociology, 6th edition, Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey.Google Scholar
Dunlap, R. E., Jr.Gallup, G. H., & Gallup, A. M. 1993, The Health of the Planet Survey: Results of a 1992 International Environmental Opinion Survey of Citizens in 24 Nations, a George H. Gallup Memorial survey, The George Gallup International Institute, Princeton, New Jersey.Google Scholar
Dunlap, R. E. & Van Liere, K. D. 1978, ‘The ‘New Environmental Paradigm’: a proposed measuring instrument and preliminary results’, Journal of Environmental Education, vol. 9, no. 4, pp. 10–19.Google Scholar
Dunlap, R. E. & Van Liere, K. D. 1984, ‘Commitment to the dominant social paradigm and concern for environmental quality’, Social Science Quarterly, vol. 65, pp. 1013–28.Google Scholar
Fox, M. F. & Firebaugh, G. 1992, ‘Confidence in science: The gender gap’, Social Science Quarterly, vol. 73, pp. 101–13.Google Scholar
Hamilton, R. F., & Wright, J. D. 1986, The State of the Masses, Aldine Publishing, New York.Google Scholar
Harper, C. L. 1996, Environment and Society: Human Perspectives on Environmental Issues, Prentice-Hall, Upper Saddle River, New Jersey.Google Scholar
Inglehart, R. 1977, The Silent Revolution: Changing Values and Political Styles among Western Publics, Princeton University Press, Princeton, New Jersey.Google Scholar
Inglehart, R. 1990, Cultural Shift in Advanced Industrial Society, Princeton University Press, Princeton, New Jersey.Google Scholar
Jonassen, D. 1991a, ‘Evaluating constructivist learning’, Educational Technology, vol. 31, no. 9, pp. 28–33.Google Scholar
Jonassen, D. 1991b, ‘Objectivism vs. constructivism: do we need a new philosophical paradigm?’, Educational Technology Research and Development, vol. 39, no. 3, pp. 5–14.Google Scholar
Jones, R. E. & Dunlap, R. E. 1992, ‘The social bases of environmental concern: have they changed over time?’, Rural Sociology, vol. 57, no. 1, pp. 28–47.Google Scholar
Kanagy, C. L., Humphrey, C. R., & Firebaugh, G. 1994, ‘Surging environmentalism: changing public opinion or changing publics?’, Social Science Quarterly, vol. 75, no. 4, pp. 804–819.Google Scholar
Klein, E. S. & Merritt, E. 1994, ‘Environmental education as a model for constructivist teaching’, Journal of Environmental Education, vol. 25, no. 3, pp. 14–21.Google Scholar
Olsen, M. E., Lodwick, D. G., & Dunlap, R. E. 1992, Viewing the World Ecologically, Westview Press, Boulder, Colorado.Google Scholar
Quinn, D. 1992, Ishmael, Bantam Books, New York, New York.Google Scholar
Ridener, L. R. 1995, ‘Worldviews: an experimental analysis of environmental attitudes and attitude change’, paper presented at Southwestern Social Science Association, Environmental Sociology Session, Annual Meeting, Dallas, Texas.Google Scholar
Ritzer, G. R. 1996, Sociological Theory 4th edition, McGraw-Hill, New York, New York.Google Scholar
Schipper, L. 1995, ‘Determinants of automobile use and energy consumption in OECD countries’, Annual Review of Energy and Environment, vol. 20, pp. 325–86.Google Scholar
Schnaiberg, A. & Gould, K. A. 1994, Environment and Society: The Enduring Conflict, St Martin’s Press, New York.Google Scholar
Strang, D. & Meyer, J. W. 1993, ‘Institutional conditions for diffusion’, Theory and Society, vol. 22, pp. 487–511.Google Scholar
Warren, K. E. 1993, ‘Introduction to Ecofeminism’ in Zimmerman, M. E (ed.), Environmental Philosophy: From Animal Rights to Radical Ecology, Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey.Google Scholar