IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v10y2018i7p2188-d154661.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

How Environmental Values Predict Acquisition of Different Cognitive Knowledge Types with Regard to Forest Conservation

Author

Listed:
  • Christine Thorn

    (Department of Biology Education, Z-MNU (Centre of Math & Science Education), University of Bayreuth, NW-1, D-95447 Bayreuth, Germany)

  • Franz X. Bogner

    (Department of Biology Education, Z-MNU (Centre of Math & Science Education), University of Bayreuth, NW-1, D-95447 Bayreuth, Germany)

Abstract

We describe a student-centered, hands-on conservational program designed to alter adolescent environmental values and cognitive knowledge. The values (defined as sets of attitudes towards nature conservation) were measured using the 2-MEV scale (Two Major Environmental Values: Preservation, Utilization). Pre-existing knowledge levels and subsequent cognitive learning (short-, medium- and long-term) were scored on the basis of the three knowledge dimensions (system knowledge: Sys , action-related knowledge: Act and effectiveness knowledge: Eff ). Two hundred and seventy-one 6th to 8th graders, unaware of the testing schedules, completed our questionnaires two weeks before (T0), immediately after (T1), six weeks after (T2) and six months (T3) after participation in our nature and wildlife conservation program module. The linear mixed effects model (LMM) was used to analyze the relationships of cognitive knowledge with Preservation and Utilization: high Preservation scores predicted high overall pre-knowledge for all three knowledge types. High Utilization scores correlated with low pre-knowledge scores for all knowledge types. For Preservation, this positive relationship remained constant at all testing schedules. Utilization and knowledge acquisition correlated negatively in both the short (six weeks) and long terms (six months). Students scoring high on Preservation knew more, learned more, and forgot less in the short term than the low scorers. Students scoring high on Utilization briefly added cognitive knowledge immediately after the intervention, though this disappeared again in the short term. Educators are advised to build upon existing values and adjust their teaching on nature conservation issues accordingly.

Suggested Citation

  • Christine Thorn & Franz X. Bogner, 2018. "How Environmental Values Predict Acquisition of Different Cognitive Knowledge Types with Regard to Forest Conservation," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(7), pages 1-11, June.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:10:y:2018:i:7:p:2188-:d:154661
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/10/7/2188/pdf
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/10/7/2188/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Jelle Boeve-de Pauw & Peter Petegem, 2010. "A cross-national perspective on youth environmental attitudes," Environment Systems and Decisions, Springer, vol. 30(2), pages 133-144, June.
    2. Britta Oerke & Franz X. Bogner, 2010. "Gender, age and subject matter: impact on teachers’ ecological values," Environment Systems and Decisions, Springer, vol. 30(2), pages 111-122, June.
    3. Franz X. Bogner & Johann C. Brengelmann & Michael Wiseman, 2000. "Risk-taking and environmental perception," Environment Systems and Decisions, Springer, vol. 20(1), pages 49-62, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Michaela Maurer & Pavlos Koulouris & Franz X. Bogner, 2020. "Green Awareness in Action—How Energy Conservation Action Forces on Environmental Knowledge, Values and Behaviour in Adolescents’ School Life," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(3), pages 1-15, January.
    2. Jennifer Schneiderhan-Opel & Franz X. Bogner, 2020. "The Relation between Knowledge Acquisition and Environmental Values within the Scope of a Biodiversity Learning Module," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(5), pages 1-19, March.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Michaela Maurer & Franz Xaver Bogner, 2020. "First steps towards sustainability? University freshmen perceptions on nature versus environment," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 15(6), pages 1-16, June.
    2. Patricia Raab & Christoph Randler & Franz X. Bogner, 2018. "How Young “Early Birds” Prefer Preservation, Appreciation and Utilization of Nature," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(11), pages 1-13, November.
    3. Shakil Regmi & Bruce Johnson & Bed Mani Dahal, 2019. "Analysing the Environmental Values and Attitudes of Rural Nepalese Children by Validating the 2-MEV Model," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(1), pages 1-21, December.
    4. Franz X. Bogner, 2018. "Environmental Values (2-MEV) and Appreciation of Nature," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(2), pages 1-10, January.
    5. Chona Vince Cruz & Fe Espedido & Ryanorlie Abeledo, 2015. "Shaping minds to action: an evaluation of the environmental influences of primary school students in an urbanizing community," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 17(3), pages 641-652, June.
    6. Matthias Winfried Kleespies & Paul Wilhelm Dierkes, 2020. "Impact of biological education and gender on students’ connection to nature and relational values," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 15(11), pages 1-18, November.
    7. Halkos, George & Gkargkavouzi, Anastasia & Matsiori, Steriani, 2018. "Teachers’ environmental knowledge and pro-environmental behavior: An application of CNS and EID scales," MPRA Paper 84505, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    8. repec:arp:tjssrr:2019:p:1187-1192 is not listed on IDEAS
    9. Marit Kristine List & Fabian T. C. Schmidt & Daria Mundt & Dennis Föste-Eggers, 2020. "Still Green at Fifteen? Investigating Environmental Awareness of the PISA 2015 Population: Cross-National Differences and Correlates," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(7), pages 1-20, April.
    10. Norazilawati Abdullah* & Kung-Teck Wong & Rosnidar Mansor & Lilia Halim & Haryanti Mohd Affandi, 2019. "Development of Environmental Education Model for Primary School Pupils in Malaysia," The Journal of Social Sciences Research, Academic Research Publishing Group, vol. 5(4), pages 852-857, 04-2019.
    11. Javier Cifuentes-Faura & Ursula Faura-Martínez & Matilde Lafuente-Lechuga, 2020. "Assessment of Sustainable Development in Secondary School Economics Students According to Gender," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(13), pages 1-16, July.
    12. Ayisha Siddiqua & Maisa El Gamal & Waheed Kareem Abdul & Lama Mahmoud & Fares M Howari, 2022. "E-Device Purchase and Disposal Behaviours in the UAE: An Exploratory Study," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(8), pages 1-23, April.
    13. Sari Verachtert, 2023. "Family congruence in sustainability attitudes and behaviour; an analysis of a household survey in Belgium," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 25(11), pages 12467-12493, November.
    14. Leszek S. Dąbrowski & Stefania Środa-Murawska & Paweł Smoliński & Jadwiga Biegańska, 2022. "Rural–Urban Divide: Generation Z and Pro-Environmental Behaviour," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(23), pages 1-19, December.
    15. Andrej Kirbiš, 2023. "Environmental Attitudes among Youth: How Much Do the Educational Characteristics of Parents and Young People Matter?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(15), pages 1-14, August.
    16. Ali Derya Atik & Gamze Yücel Işıldar & Figen Erkoç, 2022. "Prediction of secondary school students’ environmental attitudes by a logistic regression model," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 24(3), pages 4355-4370, March.
    17. Gregor Torkar & Tina Fabijan & Franz X. Bogner, 2020. "Students’ Care for Dogs, Environmental Attitudes, and Behaviour," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(4), pages 1-11, February.
    18. Sadiq, Mohd & Bharti, Kumkum & Adil, Mohd & Singh, Ramendra, 2021. "Why do consumers buy green apparel? The role of dispositional traits, environmental orientation, environmental knowledge, and monetary incentive," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 62(C).
    19. Michaela Maurer & Pavlos Koulouris & Franz X. Bogner, 2020. "Green Awareness in Action—How Energy Conservation Action Forces on Environmental Knowledge, Values and Behaviour in Adolescents’ School Life," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(3), pages 1-15, January.
    20. Alexandra Stöckert & Franz X. Bogner, 2019. "Environmental Values and Technology Preferences of First-Year University Students," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(1), pages 1-14, December.
    21. Anastazija Dimitrova & Antonín Vaishar & Milada Šťastná, 2021. "Preparedness of Young People for a Sustainable Lifestyle: Awareness and Willingness," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(13), pages 1-20, June.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:10:y:2018:i:7:p:2188-:d:154661. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.