Prior Knowledge of Sustainability Among Freshmen Students of University of Professional Studies

N. A. A. Doamekpor () and E. M. Abraham
Additional contact information
N. A. A. Doamekpor: University of Professional Studies
E. M. Abraham: University of Professional Studies

A chapter in Sustainable Education and Development – Sustainable Industrialization and Innovation, 2023, pp 493-500 from Springer

Abstract: Abstract Purpose: This study investigates UPSA students’ prior knowledge of sustainable development (SD) as well as its association with students’ gender. Design/Methodology/Approach: The study is descriptive with data obtained using a cross-sectional survey of freshmen. Data were collected using convenient sampling during orientation sessions for the students. A total of 235 responses were received. The collected data were analysed using relative index to rank items related to students’ knowledge of various aspects of SD. Mann-Whitney U test was used to test if there was a significant difference between males and females with regard to the top three items with the highest level of knowledge. Findings: The findings showed low levels of knowledge on environmental legislation, policy and standard and no significant difference in knowledge of SD between males and females. Implications/Research Limitations: The results highlight the need for including and emphasizing content on SD aside environmental issues. Particularly legislation, policy and standards should be discussed. Although the participants of the study were first year students from one public university it provides empirical evidence for SD knowledge amongst business and management students. Qualitative approaches are required to further explore the nature and depth of the knowledge students have. Practical Implications: Understanding student knowledge will inform what is lacking and hence be the focus of subsequent education for sustainability so as to provide valuable grounding in the concepts and principles of sustainability. Originality/Value: Past studies have investigated sustainability education around the world and across different disciples and levels but have not adequately studied prior knowledge. The findings of this study provide evidence of the knowledge students have of sustainability prior to the start of higher education which is relevant to facilitating further learning on the subject and curriculum development.

Keywords: Education; Ghana; Prior knowledge; Sustainable development; Tertiary (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

There are no downloads for this item, see the EconPapers FAQ for hints about obtaining it.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:spr:sprchp:978-3-031-25998-2_37

Ordering information: This item can be ordered from
http://www.springer.com/9783031259982

DOI: 10.1007/978-3-031-25998-2_37

Access Statistics for this chapter

More chapters in Springer Books from Springer
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().