Thesis (M.Phil. (Environmental law and Management)) --University of Limpopo, 2010 / Environmental Education in schools is one of the vital means through which learners can acquire environmental literacy, which is vital for the protection of the environment. The purpose of this study is to determine the level of environmental literacy among Grade 12 learners based on selected issues namely: Acid rain, soil erosion and global warming. There is a need to encourage active participation in resolving environmental issues. This will in turn ensure compliance with laws of the country. Environmental Education is the process of recognizing values and clarifying concepts in order to develop skills and attitude necessary to understand and appreciate the interrelatedness or interrelationships among people, their culture and their biophysical surroundings. Environmental education also entails practice in decision-making and self-formulation of a code of behaviour about issues concerning environmental quality (IUCN World Conservation Union 1971). This research was conducted in five schools located in Ga-Molepo area. The Grade 12 geography learners were tested to determine their level on environmental literacy. This knowledge was tested by means of a questionnaire, which contained questions that tested the learners’ environmental literacy level. The level of literacy was compared between males and females. Their understandings of legal implications were also tested. Anderson & Arsenault (1990:170-179) states that questionnaires need no introduction. The advantage of questionnaire is that if properly designed, it provides a collection of reliable and reasonably valid data in a simple manner. Yet constracting a good questionnaire is a challenge and requires thorough thought, piloting, revision and reformatting. 85% of learners from all the schools indicated that they are aware of the causes and effects of soil erosion. 42% of learners understand what acid rain is and only 20% of them understand what global warming is. Learners must be educated on environmental issues in relation to environmental protection and improvement. Legal obligations and accountability under laws as well as the need to comply with law must be part of all environmental education. Hammond et al (1999:42) explains Coefficient of Variation (CV) as a normalized measure of dispersion of a probability distribution. The Coefficient of Variation was used where Tshebela high school got 33%, which indicated that the learners level of understanding did not indicate variability. In the other 3 schools (Mamokgari, Mamodikeleng and Mmapadi) their level of understanding did not indicate a high level of variation. The last school, Mokwatedi indicated that the learner’s level of understanding indicated a high level of variation which shows that their level of understanding is not good. When coming to what the law requires of them it is clear that only 40% of them understand the legal implications but the rest may harm the environment as they use natural resources for their own benefit such as chopping trees while not considering environmental sustainability and the people around them. It is, therefore, concluded at the end of the research that environmental laws need to be integrated into the learner’s knowledge as their opinions on environmental laws shows clearly that they do not have knowledge and understanding of the environmental legal implications.

The main purposes of this study are to investigate the environmental literacy of the Kaohsiung City civil servants, their education and training needs, and the correlation between the two. The subjects of this study were civil servants of the Kaohsiung City Government, and data were collected by quantitative research methods. The study was built mainly on the theoretical framework of Hungerford and Volk¡¦s responsible environmental behavior model, and an environmental behavior model consolidated by San-Pui Lam was also consulted, in order to carry out investigation and analysis. Environmental concern was categorized into 5 levels, and general environmental attitude into 4 levels. These two variables were not used to decide the level of environmental literacy. The object of categorization was to provide a reference for environmental education and training. However, having less concern for environmental issues than other issues or placing less emphasis on environmental values than other civil values was considered as an indicator of poor literacy performance. Other variables were categorized into three levels (A, B and C) according to the scores, with A representing the highest level of performance, followed by B representing a medium level of performance, and C representing poor performance. The following conclusions were obtained: 1. In the performance of environmental literacy, more than 75% of the responding Kaohsiung City civil servants had an environmentally friendly attitude, with at least a medium level of environmental knowledge and skills. In the environmental behavior aspect, however, poor performance in behaviors other than ecomanagement was shown. It was evident that the respondents were unable to apply their environmental knowledge, skills and positive attitude, and transform them into active environmental behaviors. 2. With regard to the education and training needs, the study proposed the following benchmarks for strengthening environmental education and training: (1) those who had not achieved the high level in terms of the scores of environmental knowledge, skills and behaviors; (2) those who had less concern for, or placed less emphasis on, environmental issues or values than other issues or civil values. Test results showed that 25% of the responding Kaohsiung City civil servants had not reached the high level for their knowledge of issues, 66% had not reached the high level for their knowledge of action strategies, and 78% had not reached the high level for their skill in using action strategies. In terms of their self-assessed training needs, 90% of the respondents indicated a high level of need for knowledge, and 85% indicated a high level of need for skills. It showed that respondents¡¦ subjectively-assessed needs for environmental education and training in terms of knowledge and skills were slightly higher than their actual needs for education and training. However, only 20% of the responding civil servants had participated in environmental education and training in the past three years, representing a paradox formed by a high level of needs and a low level of participation. 3. Regarding the difference in environmental literacy of respondents with different backgrounds, it was shown that respondents who had participated in environmental education and training in the past three years generally had better performance in literacy indicators than those who had not, except for these 5 variables: knowledge of issues, knowledge of action strategies, persuation, general environmental attitude, and locus of control. For other backgrounds, it showed no significant difference in the environmental literacy performance. 4. For the difference in environmental education and training needs of respondents with different backgrounds, those who had participated in environmental education and training in the past three years had a higher level of needs than those who had not. Other differences in respondents¡¦ backgrounds made no significant difference in their environmental education and training needs. 5. On the correlation between environmental literacy and environmental education and training needs, 7 variables were shown to be significantly correlated: the knowledge aspect of environmental education and training needs, environmental concern, environmental attitude, general environmental attitude, specific environmental attitude, locus of control, as well as skill in using action strategies. In the aspect of skills, variables that showed significant correlation with environmental literacy were the same as those for the knowledge aspect of training needs, except for general environmental attitude. Finally, recommendations on civil servants¡¦ environmental education and training were made based on the literature review and the study results, to provide a reference for the competent authority of civil servants and the training organizations.

Thesis (MPhil)--University of Stellenbosch, 2007. / Bibliography. Also available via the Internet.

In recent years, library researchers, as well as IFLA, have emphasized the responsibility of libraries to promote environmental education, especially in light of the UN's Agenda 2030 and the SDGs. Previous research has focused mainly on ”green” library buildings. There is, however, a knowledge gap concerning which methods libraries can use to encourage environmentally friendly behaviours among their users. Thus, the purpose of this thesis is to investigate which methods libraries use to facilitate environmental literacy, as well as which experiences librarians have regarding this work. The empirical data was collected through interviews with five public librarians involved in a wide array of environmental activities at their respective libraries. The data was then thematically analyzed. The results show that the libraries use many different methods which mainly revolve around promoting connections to nature and one’s surroundings. The study also shows that libraries obtaining ”environmental leadership” can serve to inspire change within their communities. Finally, the underlying conditions for this work are affected by the lack of directives and coordination within the Swedish library sphere.

Before Namibia's independence in 1990 educational programmes and curricula gave little attention to environmental education which was detrimental to the development of environmental literacy in Namibia. The post independence education reform process paid special attention to the inclusion of environmental education in all spheres of learning. Furthermore, Namibia became a signatory to various environmental conventions thereby raising awareness about the environment and the potential challenges to a sustainable future. The initiatives of various environmental education projects since independence have responded to the growing concern of environmental education programmes, resulting in the establishment of the Namibian Environmental Education Course (NEEC). To date few studies have been conducted examining the relevance of EE programmes in relation to the professional practice of EE providers in the non-formal sector. This study focuses on the work done by two environmental education providers and four assistant environmental education tutors in Rundu, in North-Eastern Namibia. The study adopted a qualitative approach to investigate how the NEEC has shaped and informed the practice of EE providers in the non-formal sector and also how the NEEC has responded to the Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) programme. The study employed three data collection instruments: interviews, field observations and document analysis. The findings indicated that despite the input of the NEEC programme which provided an understanding and knowledge of environmental problems to the EE providers, there are issues that continue to hamper the effective practice of these providers. The study revealed that the NEEC programme, while within the structure of ESD, does not give explicit guidelines for identifying Namibia's environmental challenges and clear strategies of how to respond to these challenges. The findings of the study have provided valuable insights into aspects of an EE programme that need to be addressed to support EE providers in responding to key environmental challenges in their regions and contribute to the decade of Education for Sustainable Development.

Current policy and research have led the field of science education towards a model of "science as practice." In the past decade, several research programs on model-based reasoning practices in education have articulated key dimensions of practice, including constructing and defending models, comparing models to empirical data, using representations to identify patterns in data and use those as inscriptions to buttress arguments. This study presents a detailed case of how the use of a physical microcosm and children's self-directed representations of an ecosystem constrained and afforded student sense-making in an urban elementary classroom. The case analyzed the experiences of a 10-year old fifth grade student, Jorge, and the variation in his expressed understanding of ecosystems as he interacted with academic tasks, along with models and representations, to design, observe and explain an ecological microcosm. The study used a conceptual framework that brings together theories of situated cognition and Doyle's work on academic task to explain how and why Jorge's perception and communication of dimensions of ecosystem structure, function, and behavior appear to "come in and out of focus," influenced by the affordances of the tools and resources available, the academic task as given by the teacher, and Jorge's own experiences and knowledge of phenomena related to ecosystems. Findings from this study suggest that elementary students' ability or inability to address particular ecological concepts in a given task relate less to gaps in their understanding and more to the structure of academic tasks and learning contexts. The process of a student interacting with curriculum follows a dynamic trajectory and leads to emergent outcomes. As a result of the complex interactions of task, tools, and his own interests and agency, Jorge's attunement to the role of water in ecosystems comes in and out of focus throughout the unit. The instructional constraint of needing to integrate the FOSS Water Cycle curriculum into the Bottle Biology Project became an affordance for Jorge to ask questions, observe, and theorize about the role of water and the water cycle in an ecosystem. The practice of modeling a closed ecosystem made salient to Jorge the boundaries of a system and the conservation of water within that system. The closed ecosystem model also presented constraints to students' sense making about the role of interactions when students lack domain knowledge in ecology. Relying on students' own talk, photographs and representations as explanations of phenomena in the Bio Bottle, without establishing norms of representational conventions and communication, resulted in missed opportunities for Jorge to reinforce his sense making during the activity and to develop conventions of scientific representation. Findings from this study can be used to inform the design and implementation of learning environments and curricular activities for elementary and middle school students that address all three dimensions of the Next Generation Science Standards: a) developing conceptual understanding of key concepts in the domain of ecology, b) the cross-cutting concept of systems, and c) multiple practices that ecologists use in developing and evaluating models that explain ecosystem structures, functions, and change over time.

Thesis (M.Phil.(Environmental Law and Management)) --University of Limpopo, 2010 / Environmental Education in schools is one of the vital means through which learners can acquire environmental literacy, which is vital for the protection of the environment. The purpose of this study is to determine the level of environmental literacy among Grade 12 learners based on selected issues namely: Acid rain, soil erosion and global warming. There is a need to encourage active participation in resolving environmental issues. This will in turn ensure compliance with laws of the country. Environmental Education is the process of recognizing values and clarifying concepts in order to develop skills and attitude necessary to understand and appreciate the interrelatedness or interrelationships among people, their culture and their biophysical surroundings. Environmental education also entails practice in decision-making and self-formulation of a code of behaviour about issues concerning environmental quality (IUCN World Conservation Union 1971). This research was conducted in five schools located in Ga-Molepo area. The Grade 12 geography learners were tested to determine their level on environmental literacy. This knowledge was tested by means of a questionnaire, which contained questions that tested the learners’ environmental literacy level. The level of literacy was compared between males and females. Their understandings of legal implications were also tested. Anderson & Arsenault (1990:170-179) states that questionnaires need no introduction. The advantage of questionnaire is that if properly designed, it provides a collection of reliable and reasonably valid data in a simple manner. Yet constracting a good questionnaire is a challenge and requires thorough thought, piloting, revision and reformatting. 85% of learners from all the schools indicated that they are aware of the causes and effects of soil erosion. 42% of learners understand what acid rain is and only 20% of them understand what global warming is. Learners must be educated on environmental issues in relation to environmental protection and improvement. Legal obligations and accountability under laws as well as the need to comply with law must be part of all environmental education. Hammond et al (1999:42) explains Coefficient of Variation (CV) as a normalized measure of dispersion of a probability distribution. The Coefficient of Variation was used where Tshebela high school got 33%, which indicated that the learners level of understanding did not indicate variability. In the other 3 schools (Mamokgari, Mamodikeleng and Mmapadi) their level of understanding did not indicate a high level of variation. The last school, Mokwatedi indicated that the learner’s level of understanding indicated a high level of variation which shows that their level of understanding is not good. When coming to what the law requires of them it is clear that only 40% of them understand the legal implications but the rest may harm the environment as they use natural resources for their own benefit such as chopping trees while not considering environmental sustainability and the people around them. It is, therefore, concluded at the end of the research that environmental laws need to be integrated into the learner’s knowledge as their opinions on environmental laws shows clearly that they do not have knowledge and understanding of the environmental legal implications.

This paper explores how education for environmental literacy can be integrated into America's public school system. It investigates the benefits of environmental education and how green school buildings, sustainable cafeterias, school gardens and environmental education curriculum can be used to teach for environmental literacy at all grade levels. Includes sample lesson plan.

This thesis undertakes analysis of members of the neighborhood anti-mosquito volunteer team which was co-established by the Kaohsiung City Gushan District Office and the Department of Health and finds members of the team have, for the most part, not sufficiently encouraged others to join or participate in dengue fever vector mosquito prevention. In addition, these team members lack proper concepts concerning individual prevention of dengue fever carrying mosquitoes. This study therefore advises anti-mosquito volunteers that anti-mosquito teams must emphasize education concerning environmental behavior, as well as increase public awareness of vector mosquito prevention and measures for individual prevention. In order to make dengue fever vector prevention more effective, it is necessary to start with environmental behavior. In addition to advocating for proper environmental behavior, education and information dissemination concerning environmental behavior must be strengthened so as to increase the effectiveness of the anti-mosquito volunteer workers in dengue fever vector prevention and allow them to attain better results. The possibility of a dengue fever epidemic is an annual threat to the health of the citizens in Southern Taiwan¡¦s Kaohsiung City. The most important tasks in creating a new precedent with respect to mosquito control are to determine how to utilize community and neighborhood anti-mosquito volunteer team resources, to increase efforts to instruct neighborhood citizens to rid their home environments of objects which can retain water, to rid communities of breading sites, to improve environmental sanitary conditions, and to continue advocating neighborhood environmental health works in order to lower vector density for dengue fever and reach the goal of having cleaner and healthier home environments. Needless to say, this type of policy requires the selfless contributions and enthusiastic participation of the community¡¦s citizens. With this in mind, we must ask whether assistance the government provides in can facilitate the effectiveness of anti-mosquito volunteer teams. In addition, we should inquire into what impressions anti-mosquito volunteers have concerning dengue fever vector prevention. This thesis examines the extent to which anti-mosquito volunteer team members¡¦ cognition of environmental literacy influences the effectiveness of dengue fever vector prevention through an analysis which examines the interaction between anti-mosquito volunteer team attributes, members¡¦ environmental literacy, and dengue fever vector prevention results. This study uses the questionnaire survey method and various statistics in compiling data and utilizes various statistical techniques to understand the relationship between these factors, find a clear policy direction, and make this work less arduous and more productive.

Purpose of this study was to investigate environmental literacy of 6th grade students at a private school. In detail of study it is also investigated that how mothers&amp / #8217 / educational background on environmental literacy dimensions (knowledge, attitude, use and concern) and besides, relationship between environmental background characteristics and environmental literacy dimensions. The study was carried out during the fall semester of the 2007-2008 academic year. The sample of study was chosen from an accessible population and consisted of 681 sixth grades students from a private school in Ankara. Environmental Literacy Questionnaire (ELQ) is used to collect data. The relationship among environmental literacy dimensions i.e., knowledge, attitude, use and concern was investigated by Means of zero order correlation. Effect of mothers&amp / #8217 / educational level on the environmental literacy of the students is analyzed by Multivariate Analysis of Variance (MANOVA). Finally, canonical correlation is used in order to analyze relationship among environmental background of students, that is self-assessment about their interest in environmental problems (perception of interest), their views on the importance of environmental problems (perception of importance), their self evaluation of their environmental knowledge (perception of knowledge), their involvement in outdoor activities (activities), their perception of their parents&amp / #8217 / interest in environmental problems (parents&amp / #8217 / interest) and their perception of their parents&amp / #8217 / involvement in environmental activities (parents&amp / #8217 / involvement) / and environmental literacy dimensions. Results showed that majority of students (64%) received with mean of 8.2 questions out of 11 questions. Results also revealed that they have positive attitude, aware of importance between human and environment. Moreover, students have concerns about environmental problems. Results of means of zero order correlations indicated that between knowledge - use and attitude &amp / #8211 / concern are correlated positively, significantly but small. Moreover attitude-use and use &amp / #8211 / concern are correlated strong and medium in that order. Effect of mothers&amp / #8217 / educational level on EL, which is analyzed by Multivariate Analysis of Variance (MANOVA), indicated that dimensions of EL do not differentiate significantly by education level of mothers. By canonical correlation, it is found that parents&amp / #8217 / involvement in environmental activities positively related to environmental attitude, use and concern which stand for increase in parents&amp / #8217 / environmental involvement, increase in attitude, use and concern.