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Summer 2004
Acadia University
Table of Contents
OVERVIEW ................................................................................................................................................. 2
KNOWLEDGE AND AWARENESS ......................................................................................................... 3
THINGS THE AVERAGE STUDENT KNOWS LITTLE ABOUT............................................................................ 3
THINGS THE AVERAGE STUDENT HAVE SOME KNOWLEDGE ABOUT ........................................................... 4
THINGS THE AVERAGE STUDENT HAVE MORE KNOWLEDGE OF ................................................................. 5
STUDENTS’ AWARENESS OF ACTIVITIES AT ACADIA .................................................................................. 6
VALUES ........................................................................................................................................................ 7
ITEMS OF LOWER VALUE TO STUDENTS ..................................................................................................... 7
ITEMS OF MODERATE VALUE TO STUDENTS ............................................................................................... 8
ITEMS OF HIGH VALUE TO STUDENTS ........................................................................................................ 9
ACTIONS .....................................................................................................................................................10
ACTIONS THE AVERAGE STUDENT TAKE RARELY .....................................................................................10
ACTIONS THE AVERAGE STUDENT TAKE SOMETIMES ................................................................................11
ACTIONS THE AVERAGE STUDENT TAKE MORE OFTEN .............................................................................12
DEMOGRAPHICS......................................................................................................................................13
SURVEY IMPACT .....................................................................................................................................16
LINKING KNOWLEDGE, VALUES, AND ACTION ............................................................................17
THOSE WHO HAVE TAKEN ENVIRONMENTAL COURSES..........................................................18
TAKING ACTION ......................................................................................................................................19
CONCLUSIONS ..........................................................................................................................................20
APPENDICES .............................................................................................................................................21
APPENDIX A ..............................................................................................................................................21
APPENDIX B ..............................................................................................................................................22
APPENDIX C ..............................................................................................................................................23
APPENDIX D ..............................................................................................................................................24
APPENDIX E...............................................................................................................................................25
APPENDIX F ...............................................................................................................................................26
The Environment Survey was available to the student population during Acadia’s
Environment Week 2004 near the end of the 2003/ 2004 school year. The survey was
done online and made available through emails to students and off the AWARE website.
Questions on the survey were multiple choice and assessed students’ knowledge, values,
and actions on environmental issues. In total, 206 participants completed the survey.
Participation was voluntary and anonymous, and results were analyzed on a group basis.
The following report is based exclusively on statistics generated from the 2004
Environment Survey.
In general, the results indicate that the average student does not participate in
Acadia’s environmental clubs and has poor awareness of them. They also have taken no
or only one environmentally themed course at Acadia. These results are concerning,
considering participation in environmentally themed clubs and courses is related to
greater knowledge and awareness of environmental issues. Knowledge and awareness, in
turn, is related to greater environmental values and action. Thus, the average student
appears to be under-educated on environmental issues, have low environmental values,
and not regularly considering the environment in their actions.
Further, these results offer at least two options of attack on improving
environmental education, values, and action. Since all three are positively correlated, any
plan to increase one area will by default increase the other two. Thus, getting students to
take action, such as participating in environmental clubs and enrolling in
environmentally-themed courses will increase their knowledge, leading to stronger
environmental values. Similarly, means to promote environmental education, such as
environmental events, will increase knowledge, leading to stronger environmental values
and action. Action plans aimed at increasing environmental values, however, may be less
successful, considering the average student already endorses all environmental values.
Additionally, tools, such as this survey, can play an important role in both educating and
motivating students to get more involved in environmental issues.
Students were asked to rate their awareness on a number of items. The following graph
represents items which students (overall) reported the lowest awareness of.
The following is a list of items the average student had moderate awareness of. For all
items the average student ranged from being somewhat to quite aware of the following.
Not surprisingly, students filling out the survey reported awareness of Enviro week at
Acadia. The also reported some awareness of environmentally themed courses at Acadia,
renewable energy technology, and the environmental impact of their purchasing choices.
Refer to the graph for an exhaustive list.
The following are items of which students rated having the greatest awareness. Levels of
awareness ranged from being more than somewhat aware to extremely aware.
Mean
Students reported the greatest awareness of the recycling system available to them. This
suggests strength in Acadia recycling. Students also highly rated their knowledge on
global things, such as: the differences in standard of living around the world, the concept
of the earth having a carrying capacity, climate change, and the concept of
environmental sustainability. Refer to the graph for an exhaustive list.
As we can see, overall awareness for most items fell between the range of (3.0)
somewhat aware to (4.0) quite aware. Only for two items did average awareness exceed
4.00. Thus, the awareness (or knowledge) of the average student could stand
improvement on all almost all items from this survey.
On the following items students’ had to choose whether or not they were aware, instead
of rating their level of awareness.
% of Students
The vast majority (91 %) reported being aware that students can major in environmental
science. However, the majority was unaware of the other five items.
Students were asked how much they agreed with the following values. Questions marked
with an (R) are questions that appeared in reversed form on the survey. On average,
students agreed to all values, the following are values that agreed to the least strongly.
Scale: (1) strongly disagree, (2) disagree, (3) no opinion, (4) agree, (5) strongly agree.
Values students were least likely to agree with were that the standard of living should be
similar from country to country, and that reducing the environmental impact of the food
they purchase is important to them. Notice that half the items on this list were of the
personal form “X is important to me”. This will be discussed further at the end of this
section.
The following are values that students rated of average or moderate importance.
Scale: (1) strongly disagree, (2) disagree, (3) no opinion, (4) agree, (5) strongly agree.
Water and future generations are of moderate importance to the average student.
The following are items students were most likely to agree with.
Scale: (1) strongly disagree, (2) disagree, (3) no opinion, (4) agree, (5) strongly agree.
Students strongly agreed that recycling was important to them on two separate questions
(the reversed version served a statistical control). However, students most strongly agreed
that individuals can help the environment regardless of their degree/background, human
health and well being depend on the environment, and all people have a right to the basic
necessities of life.
It’s encouraging to see that the average student values the environment, and, on average,
agreed to all items. However, it would be even nicer to see students more strongly
agreeing with statements of the form “X is important to me”. Students were in strong
agreement that they could help the environment regardless of their degree or background,
however, many environmental values were not as important to them personally.
Students rated how often they engaged in the following activities, and the following are
activities which received low ratings. “Sometimes” was defined as approximately half the
time.
I participate as a member of an
1.85
environmental group.
Frequency Scale
1 - Never
2 - Rarely
3 - Sometimes
For long distances, I use public 4 - Often
2.47 5 - Always
transportation instead of driving. (R)
The following are actions students reported doing sometimes, or a little more than 50% of
the time.
Frequency Scale
I buy locally produced food. 3.10 1 - Never
2 - Rarely
3 - Sometimes
I buy food with minimal or recyclable 4 - Often
3.13 5 - Always
packaging.
The following are actions students reported doing most often. Students ranged from
doing these activities the majority of the time to always doing these activities.
Students always or often sort their waste. They also, more often than not, make an effort
to minimize electricity, water, and paper use. In addition, students walk or bike short
distances instead of driving.
The following section shows the breakdown of the 206 students who completed the
survey.
Gender Breakdown
This was a fairly representative sample, as there are more female than male students at
Acadia University in the first place.
Age Breakdown
Again, this distribution of ages is approximately what you’d expect in the normal student
population.
This shows that there may have been a bias towards students in upper years filling out
this survey. In a perfectly representative sample, there should have been more second and
third year students filling out the survey compared to the number of 4th year students.
Years of Education
Again, more upper year students filled out this survey they should have occurred in a
representative sample of the student population.
The majority of students (56%) have taken no more than one environmentally themed
courses at Acadia. And only 17 % have taken more than 3 courses. The average student
has taken 0.9 (not even one) environmentally themed courses! Also, this sample had an
bias towards students in upper years, so the real figures are probably even lower!
82 students, almost 40% of the participants declined to answer this question. Those who
did showed that students from this survey walked a wide variety of distances to get to
school.
Cars
The majority (59 %) agreed that this survey served as an educational tool, and less 1 in 5
(20 %) disagreed.
Almost have of the students (47%) agreed that this survey had motivated them to no
more. Only 22 % disagreed.
Thus, this survey was effective as both educational and motivational tool, though slightly
more-so as an educational one.
The majority of students were also interested in the results of this survey, but only 18 %
asked to be added to the mailing list (as shown in the charts below).
Pearson correlations, with R value presented. ** indicates significance at the 0.01 level
Recycling Value Action
Knowledge: The recycling system available to you. 0.23** 0.41**
Value: Recycling is important to me. 0.44**
Action: I sort my waste.
In general, Values were more strongly correlated to Actions than Knowledge. Only for
food choices did this trend reverse. This suggests that instilling environmental values
may serve as a better route to action than environmental educational. Although, it is
important to remember that all three reinforce each other and environmental values are
often taught alongside with environmental education.
Ultimately, more environmental values and education at Acadia will lead to more
environmental action.
The table below highlights those items most strongly correlated to number of
environmental courses taken (items with positive correlations of .30 or greater). Although
5 of 23 values correlated, the strongest correlation was only .19 (Appendix B).
Using factor analysis, two measures of action taking were constructed. The first I called
“Action Minimizing” included actions of minimizing paper, water and electricity use.
The second I called “Action Educating” included actions of staying up-to-date with
environmental issues (global and locally) and participating in environment groups. See
Appendix D for more detail on these variables.
Those taking action (whether it be the form of minimizing impact or educating oneself)
reported greater knowledge and values towards environmental issues. In particular, those
taking minimizing action tend to have stronger values, and those who take educating
action tend to have more knowledge. Refer to Appendices E & F for all of the
correlations.
For example, those taking minimizing action reported greater knowledge particularly in
the environmental impact of their food choices and lifestyle, and the origin of their food.
Those taking educating action reported greater knowledge in on all knowledge items
except “awareness that students can major in environmental science”, perhaps because
that item was already at ceiling. In particular, those that took greater action to educate
themselves reported greater knowledge of Acadia’s environmental organizations, the
concept of sustainability, Enviro week, and the availability of environmentally themed
courses at Acadia.
Taking action to minimize impact, and educate oneself was also correlated to all values
except: concern about the standard of living in developing countries, the opinion that all
people have a right to the basic necessities of life, and that students should be informed of
Acadia’s financial decisions. Those with minimizing impact actions were particularly
most likely to agree that: conserving water/ electricity, minimizing paper use, and
recycling was important to them. Those taking actions to educate themselves also tended
to agree on these items, and that reducing the environmental impact of transportation is
important to them.
In general, these results emphasize the positive correlations between the three areas of
environmental knowledge, values, and action.
Pearson Correlation
The availability of environmentally themed courses at Acadia. 0.47**
Air pollution in the Annapolis Valley. 0.35**
Global fresh water availability issues. 0.35**
The concept of environmental sustainability. 0.34**
Climate change. 0.32**
Enviro week at Acadia. 0.32**
The concept of the earth having a carrying capacity. 0.31**
Government Canada’s approach to climate change. 0.30**
Aware that Acadia's paper usage has increased since the
implementation of the Acadia Advantage Program. 0.29**
Acadia’s student environmental organizations (STEP, AWARE, and
AES). 0.28**
The environmental impact of Acadia’s physical operations. 0.27**
Renewable energy technology. 0.25**
Global water contamination issues. 0.25**
The Acadia/Wolfville Dump and Run. 0.23**
Aware that Acadia currently purchases paper with 0% recycled content. 0.23**
Carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere. 0.23**
Aware that the Acadia Students’ Union ratified an environmental policy
in 2002. 0.21**
How the electricity you use was produced. 0.21**
Global efforts to minimize climate change. 0.20**
The environmental impact of the other (non-food) products you
purchase. 0.18**
The origin of your food. 0.18**
Energy efficient car technology. 0.17*
Aware that Acadia has no environmental policy. 0.15*
The availability of local organic and fair trade food products. 0.15*
Energy efficient (or "green") building technology. 0.14*
The environmental impact of your lifestyle. 0.13
The environmental impact of your food choices. 0.12
The availability of energy efficient cars. 0.08
The differences in standard of living around the world. 0.05
The public transportation system in the Wolfville area. 0.04
Aware that Acadia has the option of buying paper with recycled content. 0.04
Aware that Acadia students can major in Environmental Science. 0.03
The recycling system available to you. 0.01
A significant positive correlation indicates that those who took more environmentally-
themed courses tended to score higher on this item than those who took fewer
environmentally-themed courses.
Pearson Correlation
My occupation choice(s) can help or hinder the environment. 0.19**
Water conservation is important to me. 0.16*
Minimization of paper use is important to me. 0.16*
Acadia needs a comprehensive environmental policy. (R) 0.15*
All people have a right to the basic necessities of life. -0.15*
Recycling is important to me. 0.12
I want to learn more about sustainability. 0.11
Human health and well being depend on the environment. (R) 0.10
Conserving electricity is important to me. (R) 0.10
Acadia should minimize its environmental impact, even if it costs extra
money. (R) 0.09
I am concerned about air pollution in the Annapolis Valley. (R) 0.08
Recycling is important to me. (R) 0.08
I am concerned about the welfare of future generations in other
countries. 0.08
Acadia students should be informed of Acadia University’s financial
decisions. 0.08
I am concerned about the welfare of future generations in Canada. 0.07
Reducing the environmental impact of the food I consume is important
to me. (R) 0.06
The standard of living should be similar from country to country. -0.05
I am concerned about the standard of living in developing countries. -0.05
Reducing the environmental impact of transportation is important to me. 0.05
I am concerned about the welfare of future generations of my family. 0.04
I am concerned about the impact of chemicals (pesticides, food
additives and contaminants) on my health. 0.04
Individuals can help the environment regardless of their
degree/background. 0.03
I am concerned about global water quality issues. (R) 0.01
A significant positive correlation indicates that those who took more environmentally-
themed courses tended to score higher on this item than those who took fewer
environmentally-themed courses.
Pearson Correlation
I keep up-to-date on environmental issues at Acadia. 0.49**
I participate as a member of an environmental group. 0.41**
I make an effort to minimize my water use. 0.33**
I keep up-to-date on global environmental issues. 0.27**
I buy food with minimal or recyclable packaging. 0.27**
I make an effort to minimize my electricity use. 0.24**
I minimize my paper use. 0.20**
I car-pool when I drive. 0.13
I buy locally produced food. 0.10
I sort my waste. 0.10
For short distances, I walk or bike instead of driving. (R) -0.07
I eat more food than my body requires. 0.02
For long distances, I use public transportation instead of driving. (R) 0.02
A significant positive correlation indicates that those who took more environmentally-
themed courses tended to score higher on this item than those who took fewer
environmentally-themed courses.
Data validation showed higher inter-item correlations and Chronbach’s Alphas were
greater than 0.70. What this means in lay terms is within a variable people likely to do
one activity were likely to do another, or there was a high correlation between
minimizing water use and minimizing electricity use.
High correlations indicate that those who take the specific action tend to have greater
knowledge in the area than those who don’t take the action. Not significant correlations
indicate no difference in knowledge for this item between people who take the action,
and those who do not.
High correlations indicate that those who take the specific action tend to have greater
values in the area than those who don’t take the action. Not significant correlations
indicate no difference in values for this item between people who take the action, and
those who do not.
This report was written in 2004 by Joshua Salmon and Jeremy Ewing for the Acadia
Environmental Society (AES). Please email any questions to Joshua.Salmon@gmail.com.