Environmental Education Program in Fieldwork promotes behavioral changes in Secondary Education students in Public Institutions of the Northern Highlands of Peru, 2025
A 2025 quantitative pre-experimental study in Peru's northern highlands demonstrates that an environmental education program utilizing fieldwork significantly improves ecological behaviors and attitudes among public secondary school students.
Original paper licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). This is an AI-generated explanation of the paper below. It is not written or endorsed by the authors. For technical accuracy, refer to the original paper. Read full disclaimer
The world is facing a crisis of climate change and biodiversity loss, problems that require more than just new technology or stricter laws; they demand a fundamental shift in how people think, value, and act. For decades, educators have debated the best way to teach young people about the environment. Traditional methods often rely on textbooks and lectures, delivering facts about pollution or conservation from behind a classroom wall. However, a growing body of thought suggests that true understanding comes from direct experience. This perspective argues that to care for the natural world, students must first connect with it physically and emotionally, moving beyond abstract concepts to engage with the soil, water, and ecosystems right outside their doors. The question is no longer just whether students know the facts, but whether these lessons can actually change their daily habits and foster a lasting sense of responsibility toward the planet.
In the northern highlands of Peru, where rural communities face significant environmental challenges like waste accumulation and pollution, a team of researchers set out to test this idea in 2025. They focused on a group of first-year secondary school students attending public institutions in regions such as Cajamarca, Amazonas, and Lambayeque. These students, numbering 216 in the study, were part of an experiment designed to see if a specific type of learning could transform their environmental behavior. Instead of staying inside the classroom, the researchers implemented an environmental education program built entirely around fieldwork. This approach involved taking students out into their local communities to closely analyze their surroundings, research specific environmental problems they faced, and actively participate in ecological protection measures. The goal was to move from passive learning to active engagement, seeing if this hands-on method could shift students from simply knowing about the environment to caring for it and acting on that care.
Before the program began, the researchers measured where these students stood regarding their environmental awareness and habits. They used a detailed survey that asked students to rate their agreement with various statements about nature and responsibility. At the start, the picture was mixed. While most students held a generally positive attitude, with three-quarters agreeing that environmental care was important, a significant portion remained undecided or unsure. Many students had not yet formed a strong, concrete position on these issues, and their knowledge had not yet translated into a clear commitment to action. There was a gap between what they knew and what they were willing to do.
The intervention itself was a structured journey into the local environment. The students did not just visit nature; they investigated it. They examined the specific ecological challenges of their own towns, from waste management to pollution hotspots, and were tasked with developing and executing measures to protect their local ecosystems. This process was designed to link the theory of environmental science with the reality of their daily lives, forcing them to confront the consequences of human activity and the potential for their own contribution to solutions. After the program concluded, the same students took the survey again to see if their perspectives had shifted.
The results were striking. The data showed a clear and powerful transformation in the students' responses. The group of undecided students vanished entirely; no one remained in the neutral category. Instead, the vast majority of students, nearly 76 percent, moved to the highest level of agreement, stating they strongly agreed with pro-environmental values and commitments. The remaining students also shifted to a positive stance. This was not just a slight improvement in test scores; it represented a fundamental change in attitude. The students had moved from a state of uncertainty to a firm, collective conviction. The researchers found that this change was consistent across all areas of environmental education they measured: how students thought about the environment, how they felt about it, their intention to act, and their actual behaviors.
The study confirmed that the fieldwork program was highly effective in promoting these changes. The improvement was so significant that it could not be attributed to chance. The researchers noted that the program helped students who started with less motivation catch up to those who were already interested, creating a more uniform group of environmentally conscious young people. This suggests that the hands-on approach was inclusive, reaching students regardless of their starting point. The experience of working directly with their environment helped solidify their values and turned abstract ideas about conservation into personal commitments.
While the study was limited by the fact that it did not include a separate group of students who did not receive the program for comparison, the strength of the change observed was compelling. The researchers concluded that placing students in the field to investigate and solve real-world problems is a powerful way to foster sustainable citizenship. In the rural highlands of Peru, where environmental issues are immediate and visible, this method proved to be more than just an educational exercise; it was a catalyst for behavioral change. The findings suggest that when education connects directly with the lived experience of the student, it can bridge the gap between knowing what is right and actually doing it, creating a generation of young people who are not just aware of environmental challenges, but are ready and willing to face them.
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