[U-08] Geoscience Research/Education Across Language And Cultural Boundaries 2: Organization Perspectives

[U08-P09] A Study of Marine Citizenship Among University Students in Taiwan: Analysis of the Relationship between Knowledge, Cognition, and Place Attachment

*Ya-Yin Liao¹, Huai-Tzu Hsin², Shao-Ping Kao³, ChengChieh Chang⁴, Liang-Ting Tsai⁵ (1.Ya-Yin Liao/ Ph.D Student, Department of Science Education at National Taipei University of Education, Taipei Taiwan, 2.Huai-Tzu Hsin/ Professor, Department of Science Education at National Taipei University of Education, Taipei Taiwan, 3.Shao-Ping Kao/ Research assistant, Taiwan Marine Education Center, Keelung Taiwan, 4.Cheng-Chieh Chang/ Professor, Institute of Education & Center for Teacher Education at National Taiwan Ocean University, Keelung Taiwan, 5.Liang-Ting Tsai/ Associate Professor, Institute of Education & Center for Teacher Education at National Taiwan Ocean University, Keelung Taiwan)

Keywords:Marine Citizenship, Ocean Literacy, Place Attachment, Knowledge, Cognition, University Students

This study investigates the current status of marine citizenship and behavioral change indicators among university students in Taiwan, examining the complex relationships between marine knowledge, cognitive awareness, and place attachment. The theoretical framework integrates marine citizenship theory, place attachment theory, and behavioral change models, encompassing the rights and responsibilities of individuals concerning marine environments while explaining the emotional and cognitive bonds between people and places. The methodology employed a mixed-methods approach, utilizing a quantitative survey instrument - the "University Student Marine Citizenship and Behavior Change Indicators Questionnaire" - comprising five key dimensions: marine knowledge, cognitive awareness, attitudes toward marine conservation, place identity, and place attachment. The questionnaire underwent rigorous validation through expert content validity assessment (CVI>0.80) and pilot testing (n=224). The reliability analysis showed strong internal consistency across all dimensions, with Cronbach's α ranging from 0.83 to 0.87 (cognitive awareness: 0.84, attitudes: 0.85, place identity: 0.87, place attachment: 0.83). Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) demonstrated satisfactory construct validity with composite reliability (CR) values ranging from 0.79 to 0.91 and Average Variance Extracted (AVE) values between 0.49 and 0.71, indicating good convergent validity. The primary study collected data from 1,256 university students across Taiwan during the 2022-2023 academic year, representing diverse academic disciplines, geographical locations, and socioeconomic backgrounds. Results revealed that while the overall marine citizenship score averaged 70.64 out of 100, there were notable variations across dimensions, with the highest scores in place identity (95.86) and place attachment (94.04) and lower scores in marine knowledge (59.32) and cognitive awareness (73.49). Significant gender differences were observed in cognitive awareness and place attachment, with male students scoring higher. Students from marine-related universities demonstrated significantly higher scores across most dimensions than general and technological university students. Engagement in marine leisure activities, conservation programs, and NGO-organized events significantly enhanced performance across most dimensions except marine knowledge. Correlational analysis revealed a moderate negative correlation between marine knowledge and cognitive awareness. In contrast, strong positive correlations were found between attitude and place identity dimensions, with place identity and place attachment demonstrating the strongest positive correlation (r = 0.82). Based on these findings, the study recommends developing targeted educational interventions to address the knowledge-cognition gap, integrating experiential learning components in marine education curricula, enhancing cross-disciplinary approaches to marine citizenship education, strengthening university-community partnerships for marine conservation initiatives, and implementing gender-sensitive educational strategies to address observed disparities. This research contributes to the growing body of literature on marine citizenship and environmental education, offering practical insights for educators and policymakers while suggesting future research directions in longitudinal changes in marine citizenship development and the effectiveness of various educational interventions in promoting sustainable marine-related behaviors.