Teachers’ Views on Science Learning and Students’ Environmental Awareness and Conservation: A Comparative Study

Abstract

This study investigates the differences in attitudes and awareness among science teachers regarding the design of instructional activities and their influence on students’ environmental awareness and conservation. It compares large provincial secondary schools with medium-sized secondary schools, collecting data from 41 teachers and 88 students through questionnaires and semi-structured interviews. The findings reveal distinct instructional priorities between the two school types. In large provincial secondary schools, most teachers prioritize disseminating scientific knowledge (57.00%), followed by developing scientific process skills (43.00%), while cultivating scientific attitudes is not a focus (0.00%). In contrast, medium-sized secondary schools emphasize scientific process skills (69.00%), followed by knowledge dissemination (31.00%), with no emphasis on scientific attitudes (0.00%).Students in medium-sized secondary schools demonstrated higher levels of environmental awareness and conservation. Interviews suggest that in large provincial schools, social context, parental expectations for higher education, and student preparedness lead teachers to focus on knowledge-based instruction. Meanwhile, in mediumsized schools, the environmental context and parental expectations favor practical applications and employment, with the school’s natural surroundings reinforcing this approach. As a result, these schools emphasize scientific process skills and real-world applications, leading to positive outcomes such as fostering scientific and environmental attitudes and encouraging students to actively engage in solving environmental issues.