The Effect of Interest and Engagement in Learning Science on Adults’ Scientific Competency and Environmental Action

Yi-Ting Pan; Kuay-Keng Yang; Zuway-R Hong; Huann-Shyang Lin

doi:10.29333/ejmste/94225

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Yi-Ting Pan ¹, Kuay-Keng Yang ², Zuway-R Hong ¹, Huann-Shyang Lin ² ^*

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¹ Institute of Education, National Sun Yat-sen University, Kaohsiung, TAIWAN² Center for General Education, National Sun Yat-sen University, Kaohsiung, TAIWAN^* Corresponding Author

Abstract

Although existing research has documented the significant relationship among student interest, engagement, and learning outcome, limited studies have investigated how adults’ interest and engagement in learning science are related to their scientific competency and environmental action. This study used 2012 and 2015 national datasets which were collected from face-to-face interviews representing how the interest and engagement of Taiwan citizens in understanding and exposure to science in society synergistically interact with their scientific competency and environmental action. Results showed that engagement in learning is more predictive to scientific competency and environmental action than interest. In addition, engagement in visiting science museums appears to be a superior venue for promoting adults’ environmental action than watching science related TV programs. These findings reveal an effective strategy of promoting adult environmental action through science communication and the importance of deep science learning.

Keywords

affective factors
free-choice learning
sustainability
Adult Education
scientific literacy

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This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Article Type: Research Article

EURASIA J Math Sci Tech Ed, 2018, Volume 14, Issue 12, Article No: em1609

https://doi.org/10.29333/ejmste/94225

Publication date: 12 Aug 2018

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How to cite this article

APA

Pan, Y.-T., Yang, K.-K., Hong, Z.-R., & Lin, H.-S. (2018). The Effect of Interest and Engagement in Learning Science on Adults’ Scientific Competency and Environmental Action. Eurasia Journal of Mathematics, Science and Technology Education, 14(12), em1609. https://doi.org/10.29333/ejmste/94225

Vancouver

Pan YT, Yang KK, Hong ZR, Lin HS. The Effect of Interest and Engagement in Learning Science on Adults’ Scientific Competency and Environmental Action. EURASIA J Math Sci Tech Ed. 2018;14(12):em1609. https://doi.org/10.29333/ejmste/94225

AMA

Pan YT, Yang KK, Hong ZR, Lin HS. The Effect of Interest and Engagement in Learning Science on Adults’ Scientific Competency and Environmental Action. EURASIA J Math Sci Tech Ed. 2018;14(12), em1609. https://doi.org/10.29333/ejmste/94225

Chicago

Pan, Yi-Ting, Kuay-Keng Yang, Zuway-R Hong, and Huann-Shyang Lin. "The Effect of Interest and Engagement in Learning Science on Adults’ Scientific Competency and Environmental Action". Eurasia Journal of Mathematics, Science and Technology Education 2018 14 no. 12 (2018): em1609. https://doi.org/10.29333/ejmste/94225

Harvard

Pan, Y.-T., Yang, K.-K., Hong, Z.-R., and Lin, H.-S. (2018). The Effect of Interest and Engagement in Learning Science on Adults’ Scientific Competency and Environmental Action. Eurasia Journal of Mathematics, Science and Technology Education, 14(12), em1609. https://doi.org/10.29333/ejmste/94225

MLA

Pan, Yi-Ting et al. "The Effect of Interest and Engagement in Learning Science on Adults’ Scientific Competency and Environmental Action". Eurasia Journal of Mathematics, Science and Technology Education, vol. 14, no. 12, 2018, em1609. https://doi.org/10.29333/ejmste/94225