Effects of liberal studies on Hong Kong students’ environmental knowledge and behaviour

This report is based on the data collected from over 400 first year HKIEd students in 2014 in order to explore students’ perceptions on the effects and impact of compulsory environmental education as a result of the introduction of the New Senior Secondary Curriculum in Hong Kong. This study was an essential part of the Centre of Lifelong Learning Research and Development (CLLRD)’s commitment to the Education Plus framework. The study was designed in alignment with current research demands for systematic evaluation data on sustainable development curricular implementation in secondary education. The pre-experimental design of this pilot study included one questionnaire, administered to the participants in March 2014. The report consists of four parts: a detailed description of a purpose of this study, methods of data collection used in the study, and the analysis procedures. The results of the study are displayed in a final section of the document, where we present findings within each area of the questionnaire instrument. The document is followed by “Conclusions,”, “References”, and “Appendices” sections.
The participants reported their perceptions of change in environmental knowledge, environmental behavior, and environmental understandings after taking a Liberal Studies course in a senior secondary school:
• the majority of students perceived that Liberal Studies helped increase their environmental knowledge and change their environmental behavior;
• top factors that might influence students’ environmental understanding included TV, internet, Newspapers/magazines, family, friends, and other school lessons or activities; and
• there were no gender differences in students’ perceptions, except within the area of students’ choice to participate in environmental group activities. Copyright © 2014 Zhu Jinxin, Will Douglas, Tamara Savelyeva, Rupert Maclean.