EduPort

EduPort 2022, 6(2):55-68 | DOI: 10.21062/edp.2022.007

RELATIONSHIP TO CLIMATE AND NATURE OF PRIMARY SCHOOL PUPILS BY USING SELF-ASSESSMENT QUESTIONS

Karel Nepraš, Tereza Strejčková, Roman Kroufek

Jan Evangelista Purkyně University in Ústí nad Labem (CZECH REPUBLIC)

Aims The aim of the present study is to distinguish and characterize the relationships between student self-assessment items related to nature and climate and the observed dimensions of environmental values and attitudes, pro-environmental behaviour, knowledge about climate change, and attitudes toward climate change.
Methods The research was designed as quantitative. The data collection was carried out through an online questionnaire survey conducted in the Czech Republic, the United Kingdom and Portugal in the winter period 2021/2022. The research participants were 473 pupils at ISCED 2 level, 304 from the Czech Republic, 125 from the United Kingdom and 44 from Portugal. The average age of the respondents was 13.47 years. The questionnaire is divided into six sections. The initial section asks for gender, age, year of education and school name. In the follow-up section, pupils self-assess their relationship towards nature and knowledge about climate change using the following four items: S1 – I think I know quite a lot about the nature. S2 – I enjoy learning new things about the nature. S3 – I have already heard about the climate change. S4 – I think I know quite a lot about the climate change. The following sections are sub-research tools and focus on climate change knowledge, environmental values and attitudes, pro-environmental behaviour and attitudes towards climate change. Reliability (Cronbach's α) of the research tools and sub-dimensions used: Climate Change Knowledge (α = 0.63), Nature Preservation (α = 0.83), Willingness to Act subscale (α = 0.83), Utilization of Nature (α = 0.68), Nature Appreciation (α = 0.86), Pro-environmental Behaviour (α = 0.83), Attitudes towards Climate Change (α = 0.88), and Beliefs subscale (α = 0.86) and Intentions subscale (α = 0.71). Using Pearson's correlation coefficient, the self-assessment items were compared with each other. Subsequently, the scores of each dimension were sequentially compared according to the values of the responses to each self-assessment item. For this purpose, analysis of variance (ANOVA) followed by Scheffé's post hoc test was applied. 
Results The analysis of the questionnaire data showed significant relationships between the four self-assessment items used and the observed dimensions. Self-assessment items tracking knowledge about nature (S1) and interest in information about nature (S2) are significantly positively related to the dimensions of nature preservation, appreciation of nature and pro-environmental behaviour. Self-rated knowledge about nature (S1) was significantly positively related to beliefs about climate change. Self-rated interest in information about nature (S2) had a significant positive relationship with perceptions of one's own influence in relation to climate change. Self-reported climate-related items (S3, S4) were positively related to climate knowledge, beliefs, and intentions. A more significant relationship was documented between the item tracking the level of knowledge about climate change (S4) and the named dimensions, while a significant relationship with the item tracking the actual knowledge of the concept of climate change (S3) was only observed for positive "agree" responses. Moreover, item S4 has a significant positive relationship with the dimension of pro-environmental behaviour.

Keywords: self-assessment, climate change knowledge, climate change attitudes, environmental attitudes, environmental values, pro-environmental behaviour

Published: June 10, 2022  Show citation