Environmental literacy among prospective classroom teachers in Jordan

Abstract

This study aims to determine the level of environmental literacy among Prospective teachers by considering its three aspects (knowledge, attitudes, and behavior), the relation between these aspects, and the impact of the academic year level on environmental literacy. It also intends to explore the sources that students draw on to develop environmental literacy. The study sample consists of 112 female students enrolled at the University of Petra, Amman, Jordan, in the Department of Education Science. A questionnaire was created by the researcher to collect data composed of five parts and a total of 62 items to measure environmental literacy and to identify the sources that students depend on to obtain environmental Literacy. The results of the study showed that prospective teachers had positive attitudes toward the environment as the percentile grade was 77%. However, environmental knowledge was lower than the acceptable level as the percentile performance on the test reached 50.7%; also the level of environmental behavior was less than the acceptable level as it reached 65%. The results also showed that there are statistically significant differences in environmental attitudes among prospective teachers according to their academic level which was favorable to 4th-year students. The study also showed that there was a positive and significant correlation reached (0.437) between students' environmental attitudes and their behavior.