Students' academic performance in environmental studies: an empirical study of different groups of secondary school graduates.
- Resource Type
- Article
- Authors
- Cheung, Lewis Ting On, ; Fok, Lincoln; Gou, Gloria Rui
- Source
- International Research in Geographical & Environmental Education; Aug2016, Vol. 25 Issue 3, p211-225, 15p
- Subject
- Environmental education
Academic achievement
Graduates
Secondary school curriculum
Secondary education
Higher education
Attitudes toward the environment
Hong Kong (China)
- Language
- ISSN
- 10382046
The Hong Kong education system has undergone a dramatic change in its secondary and tertiary level of education. A single public examination for senior secondary education namely Hong Kong Diploma of Secondary Education (HKDSE) was adopted to replace two previously used examinations in 2012. As a result, all higher education institutes in Hong Kong admitted different groups of secondary graduates into the same cohort in 2012 for sub-degree programmes. This study investigated the academic performance of students from different secondary schooling systems in an environmental studies course. Questionnaire survey data and the assessment results of a compulsory course of the students were used for this study. Results indicated significant differences in academic performance in the environmental studies course between three different groups of students. The students that completed a three-year senior secondary education outperformed their counterparts who completed the pre-associate degree and four-year senior secondary education in the environmental course assessment results. Students' environmental attitudes were positively correlated with academic performance on the environmental course, suggesting that students with better environmental attitudes performed better in the environmental studies course. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]