International Research in Geographical and Environmental Education
Editors: A/Prof John Lidstone, Queensland University of Technology and Prof Joseph P. Stoltman, Western Michigan University
Book Review Editor: Dr Sarah Witham Bednarz, Texas A & M University
Editorial Assistant: Donna Bennett, Australia
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Volume: 17 Number: 3 Page: 212–226
doi:10.1080/10382040802168297
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Research article
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University Students' Perception on Sustainable Development: A Case Study from Turkey
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Gaye Tuncer
Department of Elementary Education, Faculty of Education, Middle East Technical University, 06531 Ankara, Turkey
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How can universities realise their powerful role in dealing with issues of environmental degradation, education for sustainability and changing life styles? Being a developing country and having young people amounting to one-third of the total population, it is a very important challenge to help especially the young in Turkey to recognise the social, economic and cultural dimensions of the environment in order to achieve a sustainable future. Thus, this study aims at investigating university students' perceptions of sustainable development and changing life styles and examines the effect of gender and enrolment on environment-related courses. A total of 823 students from three faculties of Middle East Technical University (Ankara) participated in the study. Data were obtained by administration of a modified version of Environmental Attitude Scale and analysed by two-way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA). The results revealed that while there was a statistically significant mean difference between boys and girls with respect to perception on sustainable development, there was no statistically significant mean difference between students who enrolled in an environment-related course and those who did not.
Keywords: changing life styles, education for sustainable development, environmental education, sustainable university, Turkey, university students
Copyright © 2008 Taylor & Francis
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