Differences in behavior, engagement and environmental knowledge on waste management for science and social students through the campus program

Breaking the plastic habit: Drivers of single-use plastic reduction among Thai university students

This study investigated the decision-making dynamics for pro-environmental behavior among Thai university students, focusing on reducing the consumption of single-use plastics (SUP). By adopting a dynamic approach to the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB), the research examined the influence of psychosocial factors, including attitudes, perceived behavioral control, and subjective norms, on SUP reduction intention at different phases of behavior change. Using structural equation modelling, we analyzed quantitative data (n = 317) from the selected universities. The results revealed that attitudes predicted behavioral intentions only among individuals in the contemplation phase of reducing SUP. Attitudes had a small but limited influence on the behavioral intentions of students who had not yet acted. Perceived behavioral control, on the other hand, significantly impacted behavioral intentions across all phases of behavior change, highlighting its importance in SUP reduction. The study also confirmed subjective norms' positive influence on students' behavioral intentions in the pre-contemplation phase. Practical implications suggested segmenting residents based on their behavior change phase so that public policymakers can allocate resources more efficiently and effectively by tailoring campaigns to specific behavior change phases, ultimately promoting sustainable behavior among university students.

Impacts of education and perception on Vietnamese high school students' behaviors regarding plastic waste: the mediating role of attitude

This study analyzed the impact of educational, perception, and attitudinal factors on the plastic waste behavior of high school students in Vietnam. A cross-sectional research design and questionnaire survey method were used to collect data from 573 high school students. All the statistical analyses and hypothesis tests were performed using SPSS 26 and AmoS 20 software. Research results show that perception does not directly affect students' behavior toward the plastic waste problem (B = 0.051, p = 0.201 > 0.05, CI = [- 0.027; 0.130]) but has an indirect impact through attitude mediation, with an impact coefficient of B = 0.107 (p = 0.016 < 0.05, CI = [0.042; 0.177]). Educational factors positively impact students' behavior toward plastic waste through both direct effects, with an impact coefficient of B = 0.546 (p = 0.00 < 0.05, CI = [0.473; 0.620], and indirect effects, mediated by attitude, with an impact coefficient of B = 0.017 (p = 0.007 < 0.05, CI = [0.003; 0.037]). These findings are new compared to previous studies, contributing to enriching theories related to behavior toward the plastic waste problem and bringing practical significance to Vietnam. The findings of this study provide the basis for proposing measures to improve plastic waste behaviors for Vietnamese high school students.

The role of corporate social responsibility and government incentives in installing industrial wastewater treatment plants: SEM-ANN deep learning approach

Contaminated industrial wastewater is one of the severe causes of health diseases. The wastewater treatment trend in developing countries is less, and governments are not strictly pursuing the wastewater management protocols adopted by firms. To study the intention to install wastewater treatment plants at the firm level and provide policy suggestions to the developing countries' governments, we have collected a cross-sectional dataset from manufacturing firms. We have presented an integrated model based on the theory of planned behaviour and tested our proposed model by implying SEM-ANN deep learning techniques. Results revealed that Environmental knowledge, installation cost, firm reputation, and corporate social responsibility positively influence firm management's intention to install wastewater treatment plants, but awareness of the risk associated with contaminated wastewater has a negative influence. On the other hand, Government incentives do not influence the process. In addition, our study has found that firm size moderates the relationship between explained and exploratory variables. Our study provided valuable insight into the available literature and provided some policy suggestions to developing countries' governments to cope with water scarcity and health issues caused by contaminated industrial wastewater.

Green HRM and ecofriendly behavior of employees: Relevance of proecological climate and environmental knowledge

Human Resource Management (HRM) helps develop an ecofriendly culture by molding employee behavior. However, numerous elements also play critical roles. The intent of this article was to inspect the influence of green HRM on workers' in-role and extra role ecofriendly behavior using the mediating effect of proecological climate and green empowerment. The regulating effect of environmental knowledge on workers' extra role behavior was also planned to investigate. To inspect the data, this study employed a two-stage approach of structural equation modeling (SEM). Purposive sampling was applied to collect data for the study, which included an empirically verified questionnaire. The discoveries from the study revealed that environmental knowledge doesn't strengthen the affiliation between GHRM and employees' extra role ecofriendly behavior. Besides, proecological climate and green engagement have an important role to shape employees' ecofriendly activities. The results of the study can assist the industry-wide decision-making process. It will also open new ground to study other sectors.

Service Learning as an Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) Teaching Strategy: Design, Implementation, and Evaluation in a STEM University Course

The continuous deterioration of the environment is one of the major concerns that societies are facing nowadays. As a response to this challenging situation, the general assembly of the United Nations (UN) created the 2030 Agenda, proposing 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to foster sustainable development. Thus, the significance of educating in values related to sustainability and care for the environment must acquire a relevant importance in the education system to provide an Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM). Therefore, it is necessary to incorporate teaching methodologies that are able to connect with students and to generate enriching experiences. In this regard, it can promote knowledge of the environment and provide a service to the community to ensure sustainable development. This research presents the design, implementation and evaluation of a Service Learning (SL) methodology as an ESD strategy in a university course. Precisely, it describes the development and evaluation of an SL project implemented in a general science subject during a 2020/2021 course taught at the Teacher Training College of the University of Extremadura (Spain). A total of 46 students participated in the study on a voluntary basis. A pre- and post-test methodology was used to assess the suitability of SL as an ESD strategy, resulting in a significant increase in the students’ knowledge about the innovative teaching strategies to work with suitable contents after the project, as well as in their knowledge about SDGs. Moreover, the students’ participation in the SL project made them aware of the community implications in maintaining the environment and generating benefit for the whole community. In addition, this research shows how the SL teaching methodology is an important tool for the achievement of both curricular competences and environmental awareness, since theoretical knowledge is applied to tangible work to perform a real community service, and therefore is a very suitable teaching strategy to be applied in EDS.