New Perspectives in Science Education

Global calls for educational development align with UNESCO’s framework for sustainable development, which emphasizes a balance between human progress and environmental preservation. Many transboundary environmental phenomena remain outside the public’s awareness yet profoundly affect local contexts. This raises a critical question: can individuals develop environmental awareness about rare earth mining without foundational knowledge of such a topic? Therefore, this study aimed to investigate sustainability awareness, environmental awareness, and environmental education awareness among 529 high school students following participation in an online activity titled “How Rare Earth Mining in Neighboring Countries Affects Our Local Communities.” Employing a one-group post-test-only design, data were collected using a 5-point Likert scale survey that covered three variables and included an open-ended question to explore what students had learned from the online activity. Multiple regression analysis revealed that environmental awareness and environmental education awareness significantly predicted sustainability awareness, explaining 50% of the variance (R² = .503). Among the predictors, environmental education awareness (β = .544, p < .001) had the strongest influence. Through phenomenon-based learning focused on rare earth mining, students recognized the relevance of chemistry knowledge in understanding rare earth elements, related processes, and their environmental impacts. The findings suggest that without such contextual knowledge, it is difficult for students to cultivate authentic environmental awareness or to critically engage in balancing the three pillars of sustainability: society, economy, and environment.

Keywords: Environmental awareness, Environmental education awareness, Rare earth mining, Regression, Sustainability awareness

References

[1] Anastas, P., & Eghbali, N. (2010). Green chemistry: principles and practice. Chemical Society Reviews, 39(1), 301-312.

[2] Berglund, T., Gericke, N., & Chang Rundgren, S. N. (2014). The implementation of education for sustainable development in Sweden: investigating the sustainability consciousness among upper secondary students. Research in Science & Technological Education, 32(3), 318–339. 

[3] Koçulu, A. (2025). Developing Secondary School Students’ Sustainable Living Awareness to Help Achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. Sustainability, 17(11), 4757

[4] Michalos, A. C., Creech, H., Swayze, N., Maurine Kahlke, P., Buckler, C., & Rempel, K. (2012). Measuring knowledge, attitudes and behaviours concerning sustainable development among tenth grade students in Manitoba. Social Indicators Research, 106(2), 213-238. 

[5] O’Flaherty, J., & Liddy, M. (2018). The impact of development education and education for sustainable development interventions: a synthesis of the research. Environmental Education Research, 24(7), 1031-1049.