Abstract
Purpose: This study aims to investigate the entry-level student’s awareness of environmental sustainability focussing on the United Arab Emirates University (UAEU) campus and measure the effectiveness of the course materials. A comparison between the students who took the general education sustainability (GESU 121) course face to face and the ones who tool it online was applied. Design/methodology/approach: This study was descriptive in nature, and the data is obtained using a cross-sectional survey of the students attending the UAEU in 2020. The data collection was done in two semesters, Spring 2020 [face-to-face class] and Fall 2020 [online class, after COVID-19 effect]. A total of 160 participants responded to the survey. The Pearson’s Chi-square test for independence was conducted and used to identify if any statistical differences exist between the studied variables. Findings: This study revealed that the awareness of environmental sustainability was increased in both groups [face-to-face students and online students], after taking the course. In addition, around 80% of the students were interested to participate in sustainability initiatives on the UAEU campus. The students’ perception of the statements about the UAEU campus environmental sustainability varied from Spring 2020 (53.3% were not sure that the UAEU campus is environmentally sustainable) to Fall 2022 (63% of the online students believed that the campus is environmentally sustainable). Originality/value: Students’ awareness and perception are very important to improve the environmental sustainability of the University campus. The novelty of this study is to examine the awareness of entry-level students among the environmental sustainability focussing on the UAEU campus and examine the effect of COVID-19 [online classes] on delivering the course knowledge. The findings of this study provide the information for the improvement of the course for the future semesters.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 1610-1628 |
Number of pages | 19 |
Journal | International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education |
Volume | 24 |
Issue number | 7 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - Nov 13 2023 |
Keywords
- Campus
- Face-to-face classes
- Online teaching
- Pandemic
- Sustainability
- Sustainable development
- UAE University
- Virtual reality
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Human Factors and Ergonomics
- Education