Risk Literacy and Environmental Education: Does Exposure to Academic Environmental Education Make a Difference in How Students Perceive Ecological Risks and Evaluate Their Risk Severity?
Year: 2019
Type: article
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: Developed understanding of environmental problems, consequences, and risks constitutes a core target of environmental education (EE). Ecological risks (ERs) are inherently complex, interconnected, and subject to perceptual biases. To explore whether an exposure to EE in academia improves ER literacy, we compared ER perception of students who were exposed to EE (“EE majors”) with students who were not (“non-EE majors”) Drawing on the psychometric paradigm from risk perception research, we compared ER perception between the two groups to identify whether the students perceive, appraise, and prioritize ERs differently, and whether they provide different reasons for their decisions and evaluations. We found significant differences in the perception of overall severity of environmental problems, especially of the less “popular” and familiar ones, characterized by global, complex, and extensive consequences. Compared to non-EE majors, EE majors perceived most ERs as more certain, personal, and temporally and spatially close. Risk prioritization and the reasons given for these choices also differed; EE major students’ choices were mostly guided by holistic reasons, whereas the non-EE major students’ explanations were more anthropocentric or one-dimensional. The discussion focused on the importance of ER literacy in reducing misconceptions of environmental problems and on developing an informed assessment of their severity.
Source: Sustainability
DOI: 10.3390/su11226350
Authors: Nurit Carmi, Iris Alkaher
Language: English
Subfield: Sociology and Political Science
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
SDG: Quality education
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $1,722
OpenAlex ID: W2986336995