A Nationwide Survey Evaluating the Environmental Literacy of Undergraduate Students in Taiwan

Abstract

The aim of this nationwide survey was to assess undergraduate students' environmental literacy level in Taiwan. A total of 29,498 valid responses were received from a number of selected colleges and universities in Taiwan, using stratified random sampling method. A total of 70 items were used to assess the environmental literacy and the results revealed that undergraduate students had a relatively low level of environmental knowledge and behavior, while a moderate level of environmental attitudes was attained. The findings also indicated no significant correlations between knowledge and attitudes or between knowledge and behavior. However, a higher level of environmental knowledge correlated significantly with a higher degree of pro-environmental behavior, and a higher level of environmental knowledge correlated with stronger attitudes. The results also suggested that females outperformed the males in all categories. Results from this study could contribute towards further relevant policy discussion and decision-making, curriculum design and development to the improvement of environmental education in the higher education sector.

A cross-cultural comparative study of sustainability consciousness between students in Taiwan and Sweden

“…This pattern is generally in line with the findings by Fang et al (2018), which indicated higher means among Taiwanese female university students for knowledge, attitudes and behavior intention within the environmental dimension. This has also been confirmed for Taiwanese undergraduate students (Liang et al 2018). Our results indicated stronger knowingness among males than females in the Taiwanese sample, which contradicts the findings by Fang et al and Liang et al However, it should be noted that our construct of sustainability knowingness reflects an awareness of the theoretical components of SD rather than factual knowledge about environmental, social and economic issues.…”

“…The mean difference between the Taiwanese and Swedish samples for sustainability behaviors is close to 0.7, a substantial difference on a scale ranging between 1 and 5, for which most responses are found within a smaller part of the scale (the upper half). The stronger knowingness and attitudes and weaker behaviors for the Swedish students compared to Taiwanese students give further support for the criticism of simplistic interpretations concerning causal relationships between knowledge, attitudes and behaviors (e.g., Kollmuss and Agyeman 2002;Booth 2009;Michalos et al 2012;Fang et al 2018;Liang et al 2018).…”

“…Moreover, environmental attitude was positively correlated with environmental behavioral intention. Within the environmental dimension, Liang et al (2018) found no significant correlations between knowledge and attitudes or between knowledge and behavior among undergraduate students in Taiwan. The level of environmental knowledge and behavior among the students was found to be relatively low, while the level of environmental attitude was moderate.…”

“…Fang et al question the focus on knowledge transfer in education as the only way to increase environmental action. Liang et al (2018) found that a high level of environmental knowledge was required if environmental attitude and pro-environmental behavior should be strong. This could be part of an explanation to the finding that sustainability attitude was lower among the Taiwanese compared to Swedish students.…”

The Effectivity of Environmental Education in Scaffolding Students’ Ecological Literacy

“…The research results by Ozgurler & Cansaran (2014), environmental knowledge of graduate students is not at a high level, but their approach to literacy ecology problem is at a high level. Liang et al (2018) explained that attitudes, knowledge, and behavior of women have better environmental concerns than men in higher education. However, Hammarsten et al 2018and Jannah et al (2013) showed that the development of environmental literacy for students could have practical impacts including competence, caring learning, and understanding of ecological knowledge.…”