This study aims to examine whether participation in a general education environmental science course with integrated environmental justice (EJ) content is associated with changes in how non-majors classify “what counts” as an environmental issue.
Students at a Midwestern US university completed pre- and post-course surveys (N = 47 pre, 40 post; 24 matched) in a one-group pre–post design. The instrument combined the New Ecological Paradigm (NEP) with issue-classification items using Song et al.’s (2020) two-factor structure (eco-oriented and human-oriented). Matched pre–post change was tested with Wilcoxon signed-rank tests (Holm-adjusted across the three composite outcomes) and supplemented by item-level direction-of-change counts (n ↑/ n ↓/n =).
NEP scores and eco-oriented classifications were high at baseline and changed minimally. Human-oriented classifications increased in the matched sample (ΔMdn = 0.42 on a four-point scale; Holm-adjusted p = 0.024; rank-biserial r = 0.63). Increases were most evident for structural inequality and access items, whereas more ambiguous human-centered items (e.g. smoking, traffic congestion) changed little. Given the one-group design, results are interpreted as course-associated rather than causal.
This study examines “what counts as environmental” as an assessable sustainability learning outcome consistent with SDG 4.7’s emphasis on linking sustainability with equity and citizenship, and offers a course-ready survey approach for examining issue-classification broadening in higher education.
