54 Enhancing Societal Relevance in Introductory Geoscience Education

Saturday, 29 May 2010
1:30 PM - 4:40 PM
Platinum 3

DOES ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION PROVOKE ENVIRONMENTALLY RESPONSIBLE BEHAVIOR?

Paper number: 54-10
Program: Theme Sessions
Time: 3:40 PM – 3:55 PM

Authors

Abstract

This study evaluates if students enrolled in a high school advanced placement environmental science class behave more responsibly towards the environment upon completion of the class. Data was collected via a questionnaire administered to students at two distinct high schools the first week of class and the last week of class. The pre- and post-surveys were then compared and analyzed to assess if any changes in behavior occurred. The results indicate that student’s behavior became more environmentally responsible after taking the class. Approximately 83.3 percent of the questions had an increase in the average score from the pre-survey to the post-survey indicating a change towards greater environmentally responsible behavior. Moreover, the percentage of students that believed they behaved in a way that was responsible towards the environment rose from 35 percent at the beginning of the year to 42 percent by the end of the year.