The impact of environmental education at Chinese Universities on college students' environmental attitudes

• Published in: PloS one Vol. 19; no. 2; p. e0299231
• Main Authors: Li, Yibo, Yang, Dongli, Liu, Siyuan
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Public Library of Science 29.02.2024; Public Library of Science (PLoS)
• Subjects: Biology and Life Sciences; College students; Curricula; Ecology and Environmental Sciences; Economic aspects; Education, Higher; Educational aspects; Environmental education; Environmental sustainability; Health aspects; People and Places; Social aspects; Social networks; Social Sciences; Students; China
• ISSN: 1932-6203; 1932-6203
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0299231

The purpose of this study is to examine the effects of environmental education on students' attitudes about the environment in Chinese higher education. The findings showed that students' environmental attitudes can be greatly enhanced by college-level ecology and environmental education. One of the most major factors influencing students' environmental attitudes in the context of college environmental education is subjective norms, and curriculum education also has a big impact on this. It is possible that Chinese college students today lack the self-efficacy necessary to safeguard the environment since perceived behavioral control has less of an impact on college students' environmental attitudes than subjective norms and curricular education. This highlights the need of promoting environmental practices and improving college students' self-perceive and capacity for environmental protection. The study also showed that factors including gender, location, educational level, and economic status of the family had no impact on college students' environmental attitudes. The results of this study can be used to examine the factors influencing the environmental views of Chinese college students and to teach educators how to raise college students' awareness of the environment through curricular modifications, classroom instruction, and perceived behavioral control.