| Title: |
Longitudinal Analysis of the Environmental Attitudes of University Students |
| Language: |
English |
| Authors: |
Shephard, Kerry; Harraway, John; Jowett, Tim; Lovelock, Brent; Skeaff, Sheila; Slooten, Liz; Strack, Mick; Furnari, Mary |
| Source: |
Environmental Education Research. 2015 21(6):805-820. |
| Availability: |
Routledge. Available from: Taylor & Francis, Ltd. 325 Chestnut Street Suite 800, Philadelphia, PA 19106. Tel: 800-354-1420; Fax: 215-625-2940; Web site: http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals |
| Peer Reviewed: |
Y |
| Page Count: |
16 |
| Publication Date: |
2015 |
| Document Type: |
Journal Articles; Reports - Research |
| Education Level: |
Higher Education; Postsecondary Education |
| Descriptors: |
Longitudinal Studies; Sustainability; Student Attitudes; Benchmarking; Surveys; World Views; Sustainable Development; Environmental Education; Higher Education; College Students; Correlation; Regression (Statistics); Foreign Countries; Likert Scales |
| Geographic Terms: |
New Zealand |
| DOI: |
10.1080/13504622.2014.913126 |
| ISSN: |
1350-4622 |
| Abstract: |
This article addresses the important questions that higher education institutions ask concerning their impact on their students' sustainability-related attributes "How do our students" worldviews change as they experience higher education with us?" The process of monitoring such a dynamic entity is fraught with statistical complexity but may not be impossible for an institution willing to ask whether or not its educational efforts in "education for sustainability", "education for sustainable development" or "environmental education", and campus sustainability developments, are paralleled by changes in the attitudes of its students. We describe here a longitudinal survey process based on the revised New Ecological Paradigm scale, with two cohorts of students, in three programmes of study, operating over four years, with multiple survey inputs by each student. We implemented the longitudinal analysis using a linear mixed-effects model and describe here the development and testing of this model. We conclude that higher education institutions can benchmark the sustainability attributes of their students and monitor changes, if they are minded to. We invite higher education practitioners worldwide to join us in further developing suitable research instruments, processes and statistical models, and in further analysing the assumptions that link higher education to sustainability and to global citizenship. |
| Abstractor: |
As Provided |
| Number of References: |
31 |
| Entry Date: |
2015 |
| Accession Number: |
EJ1075041 |
| Database: |
ERIC |