Myrto GANATSA, Marianthi TSAKALDİMİ, Petros GANATSAS

Factors affecting Attitudes and Behavior of Greek Secondary School Students on Current Environmental Issues

Although, Greece is a Mediterranean country where, particular regions of its territory threatened with substantial impacts due to climate change, the academic research and critical reflection on the effects of the environmental and sustainability education initiative are lacking. Several studies, in Greece and worldwide, have been conducted on school students’ perceptions, ideas and understanding current environmental issues: climate change, greenhouse effect, and global warming. However, this study is the first that examines, in depth, how students’ environmental knowledge, attitude and behavior develop throughout adolescence and investigates the interaction between students’ cognitive level and the Greek official secondary school curriculum. A total of 600 secondary students participated, answering a questionnaire that focused on the students’ cognitive level on the environmental issues in relation to the official school curriculum, the influence of socio-demographic characteristics (students’ age, gender, school district, parents’ educational level), their environmental knowledge and consciousness, the information sources in the construction of their knowledge and awareness, as well as their suggestions for mitigation the environmental problems and finally the school vital role in informing and raising awareness.

Keywords:

Adolescence, Education Environmental consciousness, Curriculum, Cognitive level,

PDF

___

Ablak, S.,Yeşiltaş, E. (2020). Secondary School Students' Awareness of Environmental Education Concepts. Review of International Geographical Education (RIGEO), 10 (3), 445-466.
Ampeliotis, K., Apostolopoulos, K., Georgitsogianni, E., Giannakoulia, M., Krokidi, E., Provatari, S. and Saiti, A. (2015). Home Economics of the 7th and 8th grade of high school, Student book. Diofantos.
Arslan, H.O., Cigdemoglu, C., Moseley, Ch. (2012). A Three-Tier Diagnostic Test to Assess Pre-ServiceTeachers’ Misconceptions about Global Warming, Greenhouse Effect, Ozone Layer Depletion, and Acid Rain. International Journal of Science Education 34(11), 1667-1686.
Avramiotis, S., Angelopoulos, V., Kapelonis, G., Sinigalias, P., Spantidis, D., Trikaliti, G. and Filos, G. (2015). Chemistry 8th grade of high school, Student book. Diofantos
Bolaji, B.O., Huan, Z. (2013).Ozone depletion and global warming: Case for the use of natural refrigerant – a review. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 18, 49-54.
Bozdoğan, A.E. (2011). A Collection of Studies Conducted In Education About “Global Warming” Problem. Educational Sciences: Theory & Practice 11(3), 1618-1624.
Boyes, E., Stanisstreet, M., Spiliotopoulou-Papantoniou, V. (1999). The ideas of Greek high School students about the “ozone layer”. Science Education 83(6), 724-737.
Braun, T., Cottrell, R., Dierkes, P. (2018). Fostering changes in attitude, knowledge and behavior: demographic variation in environmental education effects. Environmental Education Research 24 (6), 899-920.
Carrier, S.J. (2010). Gender Differences in Attitudes toward Environmental Science. School Science and Mathematics 107 (7), 271-278.
Coyle, K. (2004). Understanding environmental literacy in America: and making it a reality. National Environmental Education and Training Foundation, NEETF/Roper Report: Washington, DC.
Daniel, B., Stanisstreet, M., Boyes, E. (2004). How can we best reduce global warming? School students’ ideas and misconceptions. International Journal of Environmental Studies 61(2), 211- 222.
Ekborg, M., Areskoug, A. M. (2006). How student teachers’ understanding of the greenhouse effect develops during a teacher education program. NorDina 5, 17–29.
Eleftheriou, D., Kiachidis, K., Kalmintzis, G., Kalea, A., Bantasis, Ch. Koumadoraki, P., Spathara, M.E. Tsolaki, A., Tzampazidou, M. I., Gemitzi, A. (2018). Determination of annual and seasonal daytime and nighttime trends of MODIS LST over Greece-climate change implications. Science of the Total Environment 616–617, 937-947. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2017.10.226.
Hanse, P.J.K. (2010). Knowledge about the Greenhouse Effect and the Effects of the Ozone Layer among Norwegian Pupils Finishing Compulsory Education in 1989, 1993, and 2005—What Now? International Journal of Science Education 32(3), 397–419.
Hines, J.M., Hungerford, H.R., Tomera, A.N., (1987). Analysis and synthesis of research on responsible environmental behavior: a meta-analysis. The Journal of Environmental Education 18 (2), 1-8.
Hyde, J.S. McKinleym, N.M. (1997). Gender differences in cognition. Results from Meta-Analyses. In Caplan P.J. Crawford M., Hyde J.S., Richardson J.T.E (Eds): Gender differences in human cognition, Chapter 2. (pp. 30-51). New York, Oxford University Press.
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) (2014). Climate change 2014: synthesis report. Contribution of working groups I, II and III to the fifth assessment report of the intergovernmental panel on climate change. Geneva: IPCC.
Jickling, B., Wals, E. J. (2008). Globalization and environmental education: looking beyond sustainable development. Journal of Curriculum Studies 40(1), 1–21.
Kilinç, A., Stanisstreet, M., Boyes, E. (2008). Turkish students’ ideas about global warming. International Journal of Environmental & Science Education, 3 (2), 89-98.
Kokotas, P. (2003). Teaching of Natural Sciences, Part II, Athens.
Koutsopoulos, K., Sotirakou, M. and Tatsoglou, M. (2016). Geography in 6th grade primary school, Student book. Diofantos.
Leslie, E, Kremer, P.,Toumbourou, J.W., Williams, J.W. (2010). Gender differences in personal, social and environmental influences on active travel to and from school for Australian adolescents. Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport 13, 597–601.
Liarakou, G., Athanasiadis, I., Gavrilakis, C. (2011). What Greek secondary school students believe about climate change? International Journal of Environmental & Science Education 6, 79-98.
Loughland, T., Reid, A., Walker, K., Petocz, P. (2003). Factors influencing young people’s conceptions of environment. Environmental Education Research 9(1), 3-20.
Mavrikaki, E., Gouvra, M. and Kampouri, A. (2016). Biology 8th grade of high school, Student book. Diofantos.
Mimikou, M. A, Baltas, E.A. (2013). Assessment of Climate Change Impacts in Greece: A General Overview. American Journal of Climate Change 3, 46-56.
National Research Council (1989). Ozone Depletion, Greenhouse Gases, and Climate Change. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. https://doi.org/10.17226/1193.
Ntanos, S., Kyriakopoulos, G.L., Arabatzis, G., Palios, V., Chalikias, M. (2018). Environmental Behavior of Secondary Education Students: A Case Study at Central Greece. Sustainability 10, 1663. https://doi:10.3390/su10051663.
Nyberg, E., Castéra, J., Mc Ewen, B., Gericke, N., Clément, P. (2020). Teachers’ and Student Teachers’ Attitudes Towards Nature and the Environment—A Comparative Study Between Sweden and France. Scandinavian Journal of Educational Research, 64 (7), 1090-1104.
Olsson, D., Gerickea, N., Boeve-de Pauwa, J., Berglunda, T., Tzuchau Chang, T. (2019). Green schools in Taiwan – Effects on student sustainability consciousness. Global Environmental Change 54, 184-194.
Olsso, D., Gericke, N. (2016). The adolescent dip in students’ sustainability consciousness—Implications for education for sustainable development. The Journal of Environmental Education 47 (1), 35–51.
Otto, S., Evans, G.W., Moon, M.J., Kaiser, F.G. (2019). The development of children’s environmental attitude and behavior. Global Environmental Change 58, 101947.
Özmen, H., Karamustafaoğlu, O. (2006). Environmental consciousness and education relationship: Determination of how environment-based concepts are placed in Turkish science curricula. Asia-Pacific Forum on Science Learning and Teaching 7(2), 1-17.
Papageorgiou, G., Tsiropoulou, S. (2004).The impact of experiments on students‟ knowledge and explanation of significant aspects of the greenhouse effect. Journal of Science Education 5(1), 28-33.
Pozapalidou, S. (2011).The views of Secondary School students regarding global warming and climate change. Master of Science thesis, School of Humanities, University of the Aegean.
Sanchez-Llorens, S., Agullo-Torres, A., Del Campo-Gomis, F.J., Martinez-Poveda, A. (2019). Environmental consciousness differences between primary and secondary school students. Journal of Cleaner Production 227, 712-723.
Schreiner, C., Henriksen, E. K., Hansen, P. J. K. (2005). Cli¬mate education: Empowering today’s youth to meet tomorrow’s challenges. Studies in Science Education 41, 3-50.
Shepardson, D. P., Niyogi, D., Choi, S., Charusombat, U. (2009). Seventh grade students' conceptions of global warming and climate change. Environmental Education Research 15(5), 549- 570.
Stevenson, R.B. (2007). Schooling and environmental education: contradictions in purpose and practice. Environmental Education Research 13(2), 139–153.
Theodoropoulos, P., Papatheofanous, P. and Fillenia, S. (2016). Chemistry of the 9th grade of high school, Student book. Diofantos.
Tzimpoulas, N., Markou, M., Zioutis, V., Tzanetakis, G.N. (2019). A questionnaire‐based survey for the evaluation of the knowledge level of primary school teachers on first‐aid management of traumatic dental injuries in Athens, Greece. Dental Traumatology 00, 1–10.
Van der Schriek, T., Varotsos, K. V., Giannakopoulos, Ch., Founda, D. (2020). Projected Future Temporal Trends of Two Different Urban Heat Islands in Athens (Greece) under Three Climate Change Scenarios: A Statistical Approach. Atmosphere 11, 637; https://doi:10.3390/atmos11060637.
Varela, B., Sesto, V., García-Rodeja, I. (2020). An Investigation of Secondary Students’ Mental Models of Climate Change and the Greenhouse Effect. Research in Science Education 50, 599–624.
Worsley, A., Skrzypiec, G. (1998). Environmental attitudesof senior secondaryschool students in South Australia. Global Environmental Change 8 (3), 209-225.
Yazdanparast, T., Salehpour, S., Masjedi, M.R., Seyedmehdi, S.M., Boyes, E., Stanisstreet, M., Attarchi, M. (2013). Global warming: knowledge and views of Iranian students. Acta Medica Iranica 51(3), 178-184.
Zsóka, A., Szerényi, Z. M., Széchy, A., Kocsis, T. (2013). Greening due to environmental education? Environmental knowledge, attitudes, consumer behavior and everyday pro-environmental activities of Hungarian high school and university students. Journal of Cleaner Production 48, 126-138.