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Development of a Metric to Test Group Differences in Ecological Knowledge as One Component of Environmental Literacy

2001; Taylor & Francis; Volume: 32; Issue: 4 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1080/00958960109598661

1940-1892

Michele Morrone, Karen Mancl, Kathleen Carr,

Social Acceptance of Renewable Energy

Abstract Environmental literacy has been defined in numerous ways and attempts have been made to measure how environmentally literate people are. Many attempts to measure literacy have instead measured people's knowledge about pollution and their attitudes toward the environment. According to many environmental education experts, knowledge and attitudes are important components of environmental literacy, especially if the goal of environmental education is to change behavior. However, the experts also indicate that, to change an individual's behavior, knowledge about the environment must be associated with environmental sensitivity, personal beliefs, and decisionmaking and problem-solving skills. The research presented in this article contributes to environmental literacy research by offering a tested, valid survey instrument to measure ecological knowledge—one component of environmental literacy. In this article, we provide an example of how this instrument can be applied by comparing knowledge levels among diverse groups of Ohio citizens.