Investigating student's Environmental Knowledge, Attitude and Responsible Behavior (Case study: Students of Payame Noor University)

The present study was carried out with purpose of assessing the environmental knowledge, attitudes and responsible behavior of Kermanshah´s Payame Noor University (PNU) students. This research is the result from a field, cross sectional & descriptive study. The instruments of information gathering included a questionnaire consisting of 30 questions in three categories of environmental knowledge, attitudes and responsible behaviors. The statistical community included 15200 students from PNUs of Kermanshah Province, among which 375 questionnaires were distributed randomly using Morgan Table. Finally 340 questionnaires were completed and collected. The validity and reliability of the questionnaires were approved by the members of scientific board of Kermanshah PNU and Cronbach's Alpha coefficient respectively. Data were analyzed using Excel Software. The results indicate that the environmental information of the responders has been weak regarding the knowledge about environmental communities together with the area of their activities, the extinct animal species of Iran as well as sustainable development and its relationship with environment and national parks of Iran. On the other hand, the responders’ information has been satisfying about acid rains, Ozone layer, air pollutant gases, soil erosion and also roles and values of trees and forests. The investigated result of the students’ environmental attitudes showed that their attitudes, in the sense of affecting power on the behavior, have been over the mediocre level and their positive attitudes are being oriented towards environment-based thinking. Also, the skills and responsible behaviors of the students were assessed positive in this study.