Designing and Validating the E-Learning Model in Environmental Citizenship Training

Effati, F.; Shobeiri, S.M.; Barzegar, H.; Rezaee, M.

doi:10.22061/tej.2024.10378.3005

Document Type : Original Research Paper

Authors

¹ Department of Environmental Education, Payame Noor University, Tehran, Iran

² Department of Environmental Education, Payame Noor University, Tehran, Iranand the head of the UNESCO Chair in Environmental Education Professor, Department of Environmental Education, Payame Noor University

https://doi.org/10.22061/tej.2024.10378.3005

Abstract

Background and Objectives: Education and improvement of human behavior with their surroundings, is the key to solving environmental crises. This shows the necessity of implementing environmental education programs on a large scale through electronic learning for citizens. In order to successfully implement e-learning, it is necessary to design a suitable model; therefore, the purpose of this research was to design and validate the model of e-learning in environmental-citizenship training.
Methods: This study was conducted with the aim of designing and validating the e-learning model in environmental citizenship training. This study was exploratory in terms of thematic nature and applied and developmental in terms of objective. This study was carried out in two phases; in the first phase, which was done with the meta-synthesis method, related domestic and foreign research available in the databases and libraries of universities or government centers were investigated and semi- structural exploratory interviews were used. According to the inclusion criteria, the content review was done on 150 researches, and 22 experts were selected to be interviewed in a purposive way using MAXQDA. The kappa coefficient (or Cohen's kappa) was used to measure reliability as well. In the second phase of the research, the validation of the model was done using a 5-point Likert scale survey, which was given to 42 experts in education, environment, electronic education, citizenship education, and in the second step, after collecting information, the data were analyzed using the method of Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) with the Partial Least Squares (PLS) approach.
Findings: Using the meta-synthesis method in the qualitative part of the research, 15 components and 49 items related to the EEC model of the environmental citizen were extracted. Cohen's kappa coefficient confirmed 0.95 reliability of the designed model, which was at the level of excellent agreement. According to the findings of the quantitative part of the research, all factor loadings in this model were evaluated as very favorable or acceptable. The value of Cronbach's alpha for all components was above 0.7 and the combined reliability value for all variables of the model was above 0.6, which indicated good internal reliability. The average amount of extracted variance in all of the model structures was above 0.5; therefore, the divergent validity of the model was also confirmed. The coefficient of determination R2 for all of the model structures was evaluated as significant, and the appropriateness of the fit of the structural model was confirmed. The extracted effect size also showed that the quality of the system (Q2=0.795) had the greatest impact on the model. The values of t in all paths of the model were greater than 1.96. According to the results obtained from the modeling of structural equations based on the partial least squares method, there was a positive and significant relationship in the designed paths between the components of the model.
Conclusion: The items and components introduced in the design of the proposed model were also approved by experts. The designed model can be effective as a management tool in strengthening the provision of useful training and improving educational performance in this field. Also, the development of such models can help the decision makers as a guide to improve the education process to adopt a suitable policy for investing effective factors in the adoption and development of this educational approach.

Keywords

Main Subjects

e-learning

COPYRIGHTS
© 2024 The Author(s). This is an open-access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0) (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/)

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