Application of the Modified College Impact Model to Understand Chinese Engineering Undergraduates’ Sustainability Consciousness

Qiudi Zhao, Xianwei Liu, Yonghong Ma, Xiaoqi Zheng, Miaomiao Yu and Dongjiao Wu
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Qiudi Zhao: Institute of Higher Education, Beihang University, Beijing 100191, China
Xianwei Liu: Institute of Higher Education, Capital Research and Development Center for Engineering Education, Beijing University of Technology, Beijing 100124, China
Yonghong Ma: Institute of Higher Education, Beihang University, Beijing 100191, China
Xiaoqi Zheng: Institute of Higher Education, Beihang University, Beijing 100191, China
Miaomiao Yu: Institute of Education Economics and Management, University of Science and Technology Beijing, Beijing 100083, China
Dongjiao Wu: School of Marxism, Beihang University, Beijing 100191, China

Sustainability, 2020, vol. 12, issue 7, 1-22

Abstract: The college impact model provides a valuable framework for explaining various college student learning outcomes. However, few quantitative studies have examined the effectiveness of college impact model in explaining engineering undergraduates’ sustainability consciousness, a critical learning outcome in engineering education. This study proposes a modified college impact model to test the structural links among curriculum experiences, sustainable agency beliefs, and engineering undergraduates’ sustainability consciousness, and to explore the moderating effect of gender on the structural model. Data are collected from 1804 senior engineering students enrolled in five traditional engineering disciplines at 14 first-class engineering universities in China. Structural equation modeling was used for testing the research model. The results demonstrate that (1) curricular emphasis has a significant direct impact on all three dimensions of students’ sustainability consciousness, while instructional practice has a significant direct influence on the sustainability knowingness dimension; (2) both curricular emphasis and instructional practice have a significant indirect influence on sustainability consciousness through the full or partial mediation of sustainable agency beliefs; and (3) gender moderates several paths in the structural model. Theoretical and practical implications are provided, and suggestions for future research are offered.

Keywords: college impact model; sustainability consciousness; curricular emphasis; instructional practice; sustainable agency beliefs; Chinese engineering undergraduates (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

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