Does Experiencing Fieldwork Strengthen or Dampen Indonesian Preservice Biology Teachers’ Attitude and Self-Reported Behavior towards Environment?

Abstract

The current study examines the impact of fieldwork activities on Indonesian preservice biology teachers’ attitudes towards the environment and self-reported conservation behavior. A total of 283 Indonesian preservice biology teachers (16% male and 84% female) participated in the study and four different instruments were used to explore the research questions. Validity and reliability of the research instruments were tested by performing Rasch model analysis. To explore the moderation effect of fieldwork on correlated variables, multiple-regressions test was conducted. The findings showed that fieldwork acted as a moderating factor in creating the relationships between Ecocentric Concern and Personal Conservation Behavior and between Human Utilization attitude and Personal Conservation Behavior. The correlation between findings and the Indonesian preservice biology teachers’ curriculum are discussed.