Undergraduate students’ ideas about nature and human–nature relationships: an empirical analysis of environmental worldviews

Abstract

The aim of the study was to gain insight into undergraduate students’ environmental worldviews by exploring their ideas about nature and human–nature relationships. Participants were 29 students from a university in Taiwan. Interviews were employed as the dominant method, while a questionnaire survey was also used to support the sample selection and enhance the understanding of the interview data. Interview responses were analyzed using a phenomenographic approach and revealed a variation of students’ ideas. One key finding was that although the students were generally pro-ecological, their ideas about nature and human–nature relationships seemed to be often a mixture of worldview tendencies typically as follows: (1) humankind is part of nature and subject to natural laws, and thus cannot possibly destroy nature; (2) humankind plays a dominator role in nature, but can be ‘replaced’ by other species; and (3) humankind should take responsibility for nature in order to secure sufficient natural resources and a livable environment for all species, especially humans. Moreover, the students described and explained nature predominantly from a scientific perspective. The educational implications of the findings and limitations of the study are also discussed.

Keywords:

• environmental worldviews
• undergraduate students
• ideas about nature
• ideas about human–nature relationships