Higher Education Students’ Perceptions of Environmental Issues and Media Coverage

• Authors: Tuula Keinonen , Irmeli Palmberg , Jari Kukkonen , Eija Yli-Panula , Christel Persson , Rytis Vilkonis
• Languages of publication: EN

Abstracts

EN

This study aims to find higher education students’ perceptions about environmental issues and how the perceptions are related to perceptions of media coverage. This study investigates higher education students’ perceptions of the seriousness of environmental issues and their relation to perceptions of media coverage. Higher education students perceived a global problem, lack of clean water, as most serious environmental problem. Media has had an effect on students’ perceptions on environmental issues: when students perceived the problem as serious they also perceived the information in media concerning it appropriate. Students perceived that the media underestimate and obscure some environmental problems such as biological diversity and global warming. It was concluded that higher education educators need more knowledge of students’, future decision makers’ concerns and perceptions about environmental issues to develop more effective teaching practices in higher education. Through education environmental issues literacy, which is a precursor for engaged protection of the environment, can be fostered. This study offers some insights into higher education students’ perceptions of the media’s role in environmental issues.

Keywords

EN

higher education; perceptions; environmental issues; media coverage

• Publisher: Sciendo
• Journal: Discourse and Communication for Sustainable Education
• Year: 2016
• Volume: 7
• Issue: 1
• Pages: 5-22

Dates

published

2016-12-01

online

2016-06-08

Contributors

author

Tuula Keinonen

• University of Eastern Finland, Finland

author

Irmeli Palmberg

• Åbo Academi Vasa, Finland

author

Jari Kukkonen

• University of Eastern Finland, Finland

author

Eija Yli-Panula

• University of Turku, Finland

author

Christel Persson

• Högskolan Kristianstad, Sweden

author

Rytis Vilkonis

• Siauliai University, Lithuania

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Identifiers

DOI

10.1515/dcse-2016-0001