Perceptions of environmental science students on global warming and ozone depletion

Abstract

This research analysed post-secondary Environmental Science students' perceptions of global warming and ozone depletion. The aim was to investigate what students, who had already tackled these issues during Environmental Science lessons, had actually understood. The study intended to find out what sources of information students use to acquire knowledge about these issues and also whether this is resulting into environmentally aware attitudes and behaviour. A mixed quantitative and qualitative approach was used. A questionnaire was set to students to gauge their perceptions regarding these two issues, to explore their sources of information and their behaviour regarding the environment in certain life situations. Four groups of students were subsequently interviewed to gain deeper insight about the causes and possible remedies of these global issues and what link exists between the two. Students were also probed to reveal what practices they perform to decrease these problems. The research outcomes demonstrated that students have constructed logical but erroneous conceptual frameworks, through a hybrid between fragmented knowledge and mental models about these environmental issues. Students tended to think in a general way in that anything environmentally friendly decreases global warming and ozone depletion and vice-versa. The conclusive chapter highlights suggestions that might help change the strategies used to expose environmental issues to the students.