Environmental awareness in university students and the affecting factors

Abstract

Background: The disruption of the ecological system and the environmental destructions require that we review our relations with the outer world and therefore increase our awareness on environmental problems as individuals. This study has been conducted to determine the environmental awareness levels of the first and fourth grade university students studying at different academic fields, and investigate the factors that affect the awareness levels of them. Methods: The study was designed in the descriptive style and was applied to first and fourth grade 384 students studying at various faculties of Inonu University in 2015-2016 academic years. The "Environmental Attitude Scale" was used in data collection. Results:The environmental attitude points of the first grade students were found to be 101.33±12.28, and those of the fourth graders were found to be 98.30±14.54 (p<0.05). The average point of the students who studied at Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences was 111.10±11.61, and those who studied at Engineering Faculty was 104.73±12.81, and was found to be higher than the other faculties(p<0.05). Conclusions:The environmental attitudes of the first grade students and the students who studied at Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences and Engineering Faculty were found to be higher; and the attitudes of the students who studied at Faculty of Dentistry were found to be lower. The educational status of the parents of the students, their living area in which they lived most of the time and their status of having hobbies are the other factors that influence the average points.

What’s Going on at the Universities? How Much Has the Research Revealed University Students’ Attitudes Towards the Environment? A Case Study of Bursa, Turkey

“…Many research reviled middle and lower middle-class families display lower level attitudes toward the environment than more affluent families (Altin et al, 2002;Sama, 2003;Tekin and Gunes, 2018;Yilmaz and Erkal, 2016). de la Vega (2006) in his study on students and parents in Southwest Florida, showed parental income did not make any significant difference for awareness or knowledge.…”

Environment from a different perspective: Analysing the environmental problem awareness of undergraduates

“…Yıldırım et.al [35] concluded that although the students of health sciences faculty have more environmental knowledge than the students from other programs, their environmental behaviours do not differ. According to the study of Tekin and Güneş [36] regarding the environmental awareness of first and fourth grade students from various faculties, the education level of parents and hobbies have an impact on the environmental behaviours; and the students from the dentistry faculty have lower level of attitudes although the students from the engineering faculty have higher pro-environmental attitude than the students from the faculty of economics and administrative sciences.…”

Naturalistic Intelligence and Environmental Awareness among Graduate Students

“…Structurally will also make campus management more environmentally friendly [22][23] and these conditions will apply in other education areas. Meanwhile, there are other factors that have a relationship and influence, positive and negative on environmental awareness such as knowladge, environmental education, socio-demographic factors [24], gender [25], the educational status of the parents of the students, their living area in which they lived most of the time, their status of having hobbies [26], and culture (the communities which still have strong customary law will tend to preserve the environment and limit usages that cause damage to the environment) [27].…”