구조 방정식 모형을 활용한 자연에 대한 경험, 생물에 대한 흥미, 환경 감수성 간의 관계 분석

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to investigate the structural relationships among direct and indirect experiences of nature and living organisms, interests to animals and to plants, and environmental sensibility, and the mediating effects of the interests to animals and to plants on the causal relation of the experience and the environmental sensibility. The participants of the study were sixth grade elementary school students. The exploratory factor analysis was conducted to certify the variables. The structural equation modeling using AMOS 18.0 was employed to examine the relationships. The factor analysis showed that the interest to animals was divided into the affinity and the curiosity while the interest to plants was composed of the both variables simultaneously. The structural equation modeling showed that the direct experiences had only the direct effects on the affinity toward animals and the indirect experiences. The indirect experiences had the direct effects on the curiosity about animals, the interest to plants, and the environmental sensibility. The interest to animals was more influenced by the direct experiences than by the indirect experiences without the effects on the environmental sensibility. In contrast, the interest to plants was mainly influenced through the indirect experiences, having the mediating effects on the environmental sensibility. Therefore, for the balanced development of environmental psychological variables, it is needed to provide diverse experiences of nature for children. In addition, the educational practices for biology need to consider an integrated way to promote the interest to plants that can lead to the development of the environmental sensibility.