[G-01] Information Design in the Contents of Earth Science Education

[G01-P03] Motivating Individuals to Take Responsible Environmental Behavior: Marine Education

*TING-KUANG YEH¹, PEI-JUNG LIN², GUANG-YING LIU¹, YI-CHEN LIN¹, CHENG-CHIEH CHANG³ (1.Department of Earth Science, National Taiwan Normal University, 2.National Taiwan University, 3.Institute of Education, National Taiwan Ocean University)

Keywords:Marine Education, Attitude toward the Ocean, Mediatory Effects

When considering how to improve public literacy and behavior related to specific themes, top priority is usually given to strategies that enhance relevant knowledge. Fostering attitude comes later. Given that human-induced modifications have been the dominant detectable threat to the Earth's marine environment, understanding cognitive and affective mechanisms of responsible behavior regarding the ocean may aid agencies in refining policies and procedures that can enhance the sustainable development of the oceans. Even though a number of studies have probed the relationship between ocean knowledge and responsible environmental behavior, their results are not consistent. While many studies have shown that knowledge significantly influences environmental actions, others have indicated the poor correlation between technical know-how and responsible behavior. Despite protracted discussion on the possible mediation effect within behavioral mechanisms, little work has been done to provide empirical evidence on the mediation mechanism within marine environmental behavior. The aim of this study is to fill this gap by constructing a mediation model. We investigated a potential mediation mechanism by recruiting a total of 266 participants, whose ocean knowledge, attitudes toward the ocean, and intention to behave responsibly were evaluated using questionnaires. The results indicate that a person’s attitude toward the ocean may indeed be a mediating factor between ocean knowledge and their intention to show positive marine behavior. Given that the extent of marine conceptions indirectly shapes environmental behavior through the contribution of attitude, the development of behavior necessitates policy and an education system that can combine knowledge communication and attitudinal identification. Additionally, it would be of interest for future studies to investigate the effects of attitude and attitude-related knowledge in the development of ocean actions.