An assessment of pedagogical students awareness about climate change education in vietnams upper secondary education program – case study at hanoi university of education

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI
VIETNAM JAPAN UNIVERSITY

PHAM THANH HAI

AN ASSESSMENT OF PEDAGOGICAL
STUDENT'S AWARENESS ABOUT
CLIMATE CHANGE EDUCATION IN
VIETNAM'S UPPER SECONDARY
EDUCATION PROGRAM – CASE STUDY AT
HANOI UNIVERSITY OF EDUCATION

MASTER'S THESIS


VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI
VIETNAM JAPAN UNIVERSITY

PHAM THANH HAI

AN ASSESSMENT OF PEDAGOGICAL
STUDENT'S AWARENESS ABOUT
CLIMATE CHANGE EDUCATION IN
VIETNAM'S UPPER SECONDARY
EDUCATION PROGRAM – CASE STUDY AT
HANOI UNIVERSITY OF EDUCATION
MAJOR: CLIMATE CHANGE AND DEVELOPMENT
CODE: 8900201.02QTD

RESEARCH SUPERVISOR:
Dr. NGUYEN THI HANG NGA

Dr. TRAN KHANH VAN

Hanoi, 2021


PLEDGE
I hereby declare that this thesis is the work of my personal research. All
data used in the thesis is my own investigation and analysis and has not been
published in any form. In addition, several references have been appropriately
cited in the report. I take full responsibility before the Master of Climate Change
and Development Program and Viet Nam Japan University for this commitment.
Hanoi, August 2021

Pham Thanh Hai


ACKNOWLEDGMENT
During writing this thesis, I have received the dedicated guidance of Dr. Nguyen
Thi Hang Nga and Dr. Tran Khanh Van. Therefore, I want to send them my sincerest
and deepest thanks.
In addition, I would like to express my appreciation to Dr. Nguyen Trung Thu,
who took the time to guide me in data analysis and taught me how to use SPSS
software. I extend my thank to the lecturers, officers, and staff of Hanoi National
University of Education, especially the first and fourth-year students who participated
in the thesis survey.
I am grateful to the lecturers and staff of Vietnam Japan University and the
MCCD Program, particularly their dedication to teaching and assisting me for the past
two years.

Likewise, I would also like express gratitude to my family, friends,

colleagues for their encouragement and support during my study and the process of
writing this thesis.
Due to limitations in knowledge, experience, and implementation time, the thesis
certainly has many shortcomings. Nevertheless, I look forward to receiving many
comments from the lecturers and friends to have a deeper insight into this issue.


TABLE OF CONTENTS
LIST OF TABLES ...................................................................................................... i
LIST OF FIGURES .................................................................................................... ii
LIST OF ABBREVIATION...................................................................................... iii
CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION ............................................................................... 1
1.1. The necessity of the research ........................................................................... 1
1.2. Research objectives .......................................................................................... 3
1.3. Research questions and hypothesis .................................................................. 3
1.4. Objects and scope of the research .................................................................... 4
1.4.1. Objects of the research............................................................................... 4
1.4.2. Scope of the research ................................................................................. 4
CHAPTER 2. LITERATURE REVIEW .................................................................... 5
2.1. Theoretical basis for awareness of climate change education ......................... 5
2.1.1. Climate change .......................................................................................... 5
2.1.2. Climate change education .......................................................................... 7
2.1.3. Awareness of climate change education .................................................... 9
2.2. Overview of research related to thesis ........................................................... 11
2.2.1. International research............................................................................... 11
2.2.2. Domestic research .................................................................................... 13
2.3. Novelty of research. ....................................................................................... 14
CHAPTER 3. METHODOLOGY ............................................................................ 15
3.1. Methods .......................................................................................................... 15

3.1.1. Selective Inheritance ................................................................................ 15
3.1.2. Probability Sampling ............................................................................... 15
3.1.3. Surveys and Questionnaires ..................................................................... 16
3.1.4. In-depth Interview ................................................................................... 17
3.1.5. Data Statistical and Analysis ................................................................... 17
3.2. Data and Materials ......................................................................................... 18
3.3. The framework of the Thesis ......................................................................... 18
CHAPTER 4. FINDING AND DISCUSSION ........................................................ 20
4.1. Climate change education content in the upper secondary school program .. 20
4.1.1. The Current Program ............................................................................... 20
4.1.2. The New Program .................................................................................... 20
4.1.3. Comparison between two programs ........................................................ 22
4.1.4. Teaching education programs in HNUE ................................................. 26
4.2. Developing indicators and tools for assessing students' awareness of climate
change education in upper secondary programs............................... 26
4.2.1. Rubric of indicators ................................................................................. 26
4.2.2. Tools for assessing students' awareness .................................................. 28
4.3. Survey results on climate change knowledge ................................................ 29


4.4. Students' awareness of the climate change education content in the upper
secondary education program ........................................................... 39
4.4.1. Study the general education programs and the curriculum of subjects ... 39
4.4.2. Recognize and identify knowledge related to climate change in education
programs .................................................................................................. 40
4.4.3. Comparing the knowledge ratio related to climate change in education
programs .................................................................................................. 40
4.4.4. Assess the trend of integrating climate change knowledge in New Program
................................................................................................................. 40
4.4.5. Identify the role of climate change education in the curriculum of subjects

................................................................................................................. 41
4.4.6. Proposing the role of climate change education with the comprehensive
development of students.......................................................................... 41
4.4.7. Overall Awareness ................................................................................... 41
4.5. Students' awareness of their role in climate change education. ..................... 43
4.6. Sub-questions ................................................................................................. 44
4.7. Source of knowledge ...................................................................................... 45
4.8. Discussion ...................................................................................................... 46
CHAPTER 5. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS ........................... 50
5.1. Conclusion...................................................................................................... 50
5.2. Recommendations .......................................................................................... 51
5.3. Limitations of the study and future studies .................................................... 52
REFERENCES ......................................................................................................... 54
APPENDIX .............................................................................................................. 60
Appendix 1. The content mentioned knowledge of climate change in two educational
programs directly .............................................................................. 60
Appendix 2. Contents that indirectly relate and can integrate the knowledge of
climate change in two educational programs ................................... 64
Appendix 3. Survey Form_English Version ......................................................... 76
Appendix 4. Survey Form_Vietnamese Version .................................................. 86
Appendix 5. Description of the samples ............................................................... 96
Appedndix 6. Evaluate the reliability of the scale ................................................ 96
Appendix 7. Descriptive statistic and sorting awareness of Indicators ................ 99
Appendix 8. ANOVA test results ....................................................................... 109


LIST OF TABLES
Table 2.1. Components and Indicators of Awareness about climate change education
............................................................................................................... 10
Table 4.1. Amount of contents related to climate change in two programs ............ 22

Table 4.2. Indicators for assessing student’s awareness about contents related to
climate change in the upper secondary education programs ................ 27
Table 4.4. Summary of students' choice for each knowledge question ................... 30
Table 4.5. Statistics of knowledge score and classifications ................................... 35
Table 4.6. Total mean knowledge score of each faculty with student year ............. 37
Table 4.7. Summary results of students' awareness of the climate change education
content ................................................................................................... 42
Table 4.8. Summary results of students' awareness of their role in climate change
education ............................................................................................... 44

i


LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 3.1. Framework of Thesis............................................................................. 19
Figure 4.1. Total mean knowledge score of each faculty with student year ........... 38
Figure 4.2. Mean score of Overall Awareness of the climate change education content
............................................................................................................... 43
Figur 4.3. Mean score students' awareness of their role in climate change education44
Figure 4.4. Students' sources of knowledge to respond to the survey ..................... 46

ii


LIST OF ABBREVIATION
ANOVA
GSO
HNUE
IPCC
MOET

MONRE
NASA
VND

Analysis of Variance
General Statistics Office of Viet Nam
Hanoi National University of Education
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
Ministry of Education and Training
Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment
National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Vietnamese Dong

iii


CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION
1.1. The necessity of the research
Vietnam is one of the countries most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change.
According to the Global Climate Risk Index 2019, Vietnam ranked 38th in 2019 and
ranked 13th in 2000 - 2019 (Eckstein et al., 2021).
Climate changes in Vietnam include extreme weather events increasing in
frequency and are often difficult to predict. The terms "record-breaking of rainfall,"
"record-breaking of heat," "record-breaking of flooding" have been appearing more
and more on the mass media in Vietnam in recent years. Not only that, but other
phenomena such as sea-level rise, saline intrusion, drought, landslides are also
increasing and strongly impacting all socio-economic activities in Vietnam.
Vietnam has introduced many policies and implemented climate change response
activities in the last decade. These policies are focused on reducing greenhouse gas
emissions and adapting to climate change. One of the strategies that are being focused

on is propaganda and raising awareness for the community. In particular, develop and
implement education programs and knowledge upgrading on climate change in the
national education system (MONRE, 2017).
Education is an essential factor so that people are aware of climate issues. It
helps people understand the causes, impacts, and solutions of global warming,
enhances climate literacy among young people, encourages changes in attitudes and
behaviors, and helps them adapt to trends related to climate change (UNESCO, 2015).
Education and awareness-raising enable informed decision-making, play an essential
role in increasing adaptation and mitigation capacities of communities, and empower
women and men to adopt sustainable lifestyles. However, despite its importance, there
is no particular subject for climate change in Vietnam's general education program.
Therefore, the content of climate change education is conducted in extracurricular
activities or integrated into normal subjects' curriculum. Thus, increasing
responsibility for school and teachers.

1


Many studies have shown that teachers' knowledge and beliefs about science
greatly influence their teaching (Mansour, 2009, pp. 31–33; Savasci-Acikalin, 2009, p.
5). Similarly, in teaching, teachers often impart their knowledge and perspective on
science to students (Shiyu Liu et al., 2015, p. 12), and this has an important influence
on the development of knowledge, as well as on student behavior and attitudes (Blazar,
2016, p. 5; Yuan et al., 2017, p. 2).
Therefore, to raise public awareness about climate change, primarily through
teaching from the general education program, the knowledge and awareness of
teachers are extremely important. As a result, they should be appropriately formed
when pedagogical students start learning to become teachers.
Besides, the Vietnamese education system is in the transition period, replacing
the current education program issued in 2006, with the new education program, in

2018. In the new program, content on climate change has been mentioned and
included clearly in some subjects' topics and objectives. The conversion between the
old and the new program requires teachers to update their knowledge and teaching
skills. Therefore, the training process of pedagogical students also has to change, first
of all, about the awareness of the new education program's contents, thereby enhancing
students' learning capacity and working ability after graduate school.
Up to now, there have been a number of studies in the world on perception and
awareness of pre-service teachers on climate change. However, in Vietnam, there has
not been any research to separately assess the awareness of pedagogical students on
the issue of climate change education, especially focusing on students' understanding
of contents related to climate change in the upper secondary education program.. The
upper secondary stage is also a considerable transition period for Vietnamese students
because this is a stage in which upper secondary students begin to have orientations for
the future, choosing a career, and expanding understanding of real society. Therefore,
research focusing on this stage will also supplement pedagogical students, teachers,
and upper secondary school students with appropriate knowledge and perspectives
about climate change.

2


This thesis focuses on assessing National University of Education (HNUE)
pedagogical students' awareness about climate change education in Vietnam's upper
secondary education program. HNUE is the leading school of teacher training in
Vietnam and one of the national key universities in the Vietnamese higher education
system. Hundreds of thousands of teachers and education experts have studied here
(HNUE, n.d.).
Furthermore, the study will also identify the level of student's knowledge about
the fundamental issues of climate change and the student’s awareness about their role
in climate change education. From that, proposing methods to enhance pedagogical

students' knowledge, awareness, and positive attitudes about climate change education.
1.2. Research objectives
The study focuses on the following main goals:
- Evaluate student's knowledge about the fundamental issues of climate change.
- Evaluate awareness of pedagogical students about climate change content in the
upper secondary education program.
- Evaluate awareness of pedagogical students about their role in climate change
education.
1.3. Research questions and hypothesis
Research Question

Research Hypothesis

What is the level of student's Students have an average level of
knowledge about the fundamental knowledge about the fundamental
issues of climate change?
issues of climate change
What is the level of students' awareness Students have an average awareness of
about climate change content in the the issues related to climate change in
upper secondary education program?
the
upper
secondary education
program.
What is the level of student's awareness Students have a good awareness of
about their role in climate change their role in climate change education.
education?
3

1.4. Objects and scope of the research
1.4.1. Objects of the research
The research focuses on assessing the awareness of pedagogical students at
HNUE.
1.4.2. Scope of the research
1.4.2.1. Scope of time
The research was conducted from December 2020 to August 2021.
1.4.2.2. Scope of content
The research mainly focuses on the contents of the upper secondary level (grades
10, 11, 12) of the Education Program 2006 (Current Program) and the Education
Program 2018 (New Program).
1.4.2.3. Scope of geographical location
The research was conducted on the campus of HNUE, which is located at 36
Xuan Thuy Street, Cau Giay District, Hanoi, Vietnam

4


CHAPTER 2. LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1. Theoretical basis for awareness of climate change education
2.1.1. Climate change
According to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change,
"climate change" means that climate change is attributed directly or indirectly by
human activities to the composition of the global atmosphere, and this change is added
to the natural climate variability observed over comparable periods (United Nations,
1992, p. 3).
The latest report of Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) also
confirmed that the human influence on climate is apparent, and emissions of
greenhouse gases caused by humans are the highest in recent history (IPCC, 2014b, p.
2).

From the mid-20th century, especially from 1950 onwards, human activity
increased the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, leading to an
increase in the earth's temperature. Global warming is evident in increases in ocean
and air temperatures, extensive thawing, and increased global mean sea level. (IPCC,
2013, p. 4). For nearly 120 years (1880 - 2012), the average global temperature has
increased by about 0,85oC (IPCC, 2013, p. 5), the average temperature of the last ten
years period (2011 - 2020) was also recorded as the hottest ever recorded, the average
temperature in 2020 increased by 1,2 ± 0,1oC compared to the pre-industrial period
(WMO, 2020, pp. 3–4). Calculation results of the global climate model based on the
link between greenhouse gas emissions and increased temperature indicates that the
Earth's temperature by the end of the 21st century has increased under all scenarios
(IPCC, 2014b, p. 10).
Climate change is one of the biggest challenges facing humanity (Carle, 2015;
Gautam et al., 2013; Webersik, 2010, p. 1), seriously impacting production, life, and
the environment worldwide. Climate change will exacerbate existing risks and create
new risks, affecting global development and security such as energy, water, food,
society, and jobs, etc.(IPCC, 2014b, p. 13; Webersik, 2010, pp. 6–8).
5


Vietnam is considered one of the countries most severely affected by climate
change, of which the Mekong Delta is one of the three deltas in the world most
vulnerable to sea level rise. (IPCC, 2007, p. 858). Moreover, the impacts of climate
change in Vietnam are getting severe over the years.
In recent years, under the impact of climate change, the frequency and intensity
of natural disasters have been increasing, causing significant losses in life, property,
and infrastructure. Estimated for the period 1995 - 2017, natural disasters such as
storms, floods, flash floods, landslides, inundation, droughts, saltwater intrusion, and
others have caused losses of 14 trillion Vietnam Dong (VND) / year (at 2010 prices)
with an increased rate of 12.7% (Government of Vietnam, 2020, p. 16 NDC). Natural

disasters of 2020 in Vietnam have made more than 379 dead and missing persons, and
property damage accounted for an estimated 39.1 trillion VND, of which damage
caused by storms and floods was 32.3 trillion (accounting for 82.8% of total damage
value) (GSO, 2020).
Climate change with increasing and unpredictable impacts seriously threatens
food security and agricultural development in Vietnam. The area of agricultural land is
shrinking, and especially the plains are inundated by sea level rise in the Mekong
Delta (MONRE, 2016, pp. 42–46), which has a significant impact on growth, crop
yield, and planting season. At the same time, climate change also increases resource
depletion and environmental degradation, especially water resources. Thus, climate
change increases vulnerability, which is the risk of slowing down socio-economic
development or losing much of its achievements.
Moreover, climate change is also having negative impacts on education activities.
Natural disasters and extreme weather put significant pressure on the educational
infrastructure system, especially schools in vulnerable areas. The phenomenon of
people migrating out of areas affected by climate change has also created pressure on
the government to build learning facilities for resettled children (Han & Peter, 2016, p.
10). Natural disasters also threaten the lives of students and teachers, disrupting
learning and teaching. After a severe storm or flood, many families lose their assets
and cannot afford tuition fees, leading to students dropping out of school (Healther,
2019).
6


All-inclusive, these challenges require Vietnam to make more efforts in policies
and measures to increase awareness and capacity to mitigate and adapt to climate
change.
2.1.2. Climate change education
Climate change education plays an important role (IPCC, 2014a, p. 157) and is
considered an effective key (The Commonwealth, 2016, p. 4) to raise public awareness,

increase community resilience, adaptive capacity, and mitigate the impacts of climate
change.
United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in Article 6 (United
Nations, 1992, p. 10), Paris Agreement in Article 12 (United Nations, 2015) clearly
stated that the relevant parties would cooperate in implementing appropriate measures
to strengthen education and training, climate change awareness, the participation of the
community and the ability to public information access.
Among the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, several specific
targets have a strong link between education and climate change, such as Target 4.7:
By 2030, ensure all learners acquire the knowledge and skills necessary to promote
sustainable development, through sustainable education, develop and sustain a lifestyle,
etc. Target 12.8: By 2030, make sure people are everywhere have relevant information
and awareness of sustainable development and lifestyle in harmony with nature. Target
13.3: Improve education, increase awareness and human and institutional capacity on
climate change to mitigate, adapt, reduce impacts and early warn (Langlois, 2019, p.
31; Rosa, 2017).
In this research, climate change education focuses more on teaching and learning
about climate change. It is a process of educating students to understand climate
change phenomena, their causes and effects on human lives, and measures to adapt
and mitigate climate change (Stevenson et al., 2017). Climate change education in
schools is also a process that develops students' awareness and habits of concern about
climate change issues in their locality and global scale. (IAP, 2017, p. 1; Mochizuki &
Bryan, 2015, p. 14; Stevenson et al., 2017, p. 5). It is forming students with the right
attitude, awareness, and skills needed to be able to live in harmony with the natural
7


environment, while also working independently or in coordination to find solutions for
current climate change issues and to prevent potential future climate change problems
(IAP, 2017, p. 3; Stevenson et al., 2017, p. 1).

The content of climate change education is also interdisciplinary (IAP, 2017, p.
3; Mochizuki & Bryan, 2015, pp. 13–14; Zoe Robinson, 2011, p. 36). Due to the
increasing impact of climate change, not only the part "Climate" is clearly explained
the part "Change" about the socio-economic contents is also getting more attention
(McKeown & Hopkins, 2010, p. 18), leading to the application of integrated teaching,
combining knowledge of many subjects such as biology, geography, chemistry, and
history, acquiring knowledge about climate change more specific, more experiences
and more relevant to real-life problems.
By integrating climate change content into the curriculum, the following
objectives can be achieved:
+ Knowledge: Students have basic knowledge of the concepts such as weather
and climate, the components of the climate system, the relationship between these
components, the greenhouse effect, extreme weather events, etc. Students analyze the
causes and impacts of climate change problems, the relationship between climate
change, and the socio-economic-environmental issues that arise locally and globally.
From there, identify and propose possible adaptation and mitigation solutions and
strategies for sustainable development.
+ Attitude: Having a positive attitude, paying attention to the impacts and risks
caused by climate change. Form a high level of awareness of personal responsibility
when the locality, country, and world face the impacts of climate change.
+ Skills - behavior: Form specific skills and actions on propaganda, advocacy,
and response to climate change in families, schools, and communities. Practice the
necessary skills to prevent natural disasters caused by climate change in the locality.
Change lifestyles, take action to mitigate and adapt to climate change as much as
possible.

8


Changing behavior, attitudes, and capacity building to adapt to global

environmental and climate change issues are considered the top content and goal of
climate change education (Duong & Nguyen, 2014). Thereby developing values and
creativity in students to become global citizens with humane feelings, living in
harmony with nature.
In this study, the questionnaire to survey students' awareness, firstly, focuses on
relatively basic knowledge about climate change such as concepts of mitigation,
adaptation to climate change, some other knowledge about the nature and impacts of
climate change on socio-economic life. Secondly, questions on awareness section will
also mentioned about the role of climate change education in the development of
knowledge, attitudes and skills for students. These issues are also being focused,
especially in the New education program. If pedagogical students are well aware of
these things and their roles, it will contribute to improving the response to climate
change for students in the future, starting from small levels and from that develops the
whole community.
2.1.3. Awareness of climate change education
2.1.3.1. Awareness
To be aware means knowing, recognizing, or being interested in knowing
something, or knowing something is important. Awareness means knowing that
something exists or understanding of a situation or subject at present based on
information or experience (Cambridge Dictionary, n.d.).
Awareness can also be understood as the state or ability to perceive, feel, and be
conscious of events, objects, or sensory patterns. More broadly, it is the state or quality
of realizing something (Gafoor, 2012, p. 2).
In a research network, awareness is understanding one's work and others in a
particular research area. In general, the overall awareness of subjects decreases as the
subject moves further away from someone's current work focus and personal
preference. Awareness is a driving factor for social interactions, provides a framework
for collaborative activities, and positively influences information sharing (Reinhardt et
al., 2012, p. 26).
9

In education, awareness is often understood as knowledge from the environment
without direct teaching. Thus, it can refer to general knowledge, general understanding
of a social, scientific, or political subject (Gafoor, 2012, p. 2). Social awareness,
understanding, and political awareness are the areas that directly influence university
students to develop critical thinking and are associated with social change. (Greene &
Kamimura, 2003, p. 4).
Finally, awareness of something can also be understood as problem-solving
capacity, as many surveys are built to find the capacity to solve specific problems and
tasks. (Gafoor, 2012, p. 3).
In this thesis, the author uses Gafoor's understanding and concept of awareness as
the basis for the following arguments.
2.1.3.2. Awareness of climate change education
Synthesized from the definitions and concepts of ―awareness‖ and ―climate
change education‖, In this study, awareness of climate change education can be
defined as "To be aware of knowledge about climate change in the upper secondary
education program and evaluate the degree of integration climate change knowledge
in the content of subjects, thereby proposing the role of climate change education in
teaching to meet requirements of the general education program".
From this definition, the author proposes components and indicators of
awareness about climate change education, especially about teaching and integrating
climate change in upper secondary education programs, as in the Table 2.1.
Table 2.1. Components and Indicators of Awareness about climate change education
Components
Indicators
Identify
climate
change - Study the general education programs and
knowledge in upper secondary curriculum of subjects

education program
- Recognize and identify knowledge related
to climate change in programs
Evaluate
the
degree
of - Comparing the knowledge ratio of climate
integrating
knowledge
of change in the program 2006 and program
climate change in programs
2018
- Evaluate the trend of integrating climate
change knowledge of the program 2018
Proposing the role of climate - Identify the role of climate change
10


change education in teaching

education in the curriculum of subjects
- Proposing the role of climate change
education
with
the
comprehensive
development of students

2.2. Overview of research related to thesis
2.2.1. International research

Around the world, there are several studies on climate change awareness and
perceptions of students in the education field or pre-service teachers.
In Australia, Helen Boon surveyed 87 senior pre-service teachers on their
attitudes towards environmental education and knowledge about climate change after
completing the training program (Boon, 2016). The results show that, although the
majority of pre-service teachers maintain a good attitude from year one to year four
and have confidence in teaching, their scientific knowledge about climate change is
low and hardly progressing. The study also shows that, even in a university focusing
on sustainable education, pre-service teachers struggle with the scientific complexity
of climate change. This complexity comes from the interdisciplinary nature of climate
change. The science of climate change draws from many disciplines - subjects taught
in schools, such as chemistry, physics, biology, and earth science.
Meilinda conducted a study on perceptions of science teachers and pre-service
teachers in South Sumatra, Indonesia, who teach climate change and global warming
in Sumatra, Indonesia (Meilinda et al., 2017). Research has shown that up to 50% of
science teachers and pre-service have misperceptions about phenomena such as global
warming, climate change, ozone depletion, and acid rain. Respondents also argue that
they do not believe that education can change people's attitudes in dealing with climate
change. They believe that the media is more effective than the teacher in forming those
perceptions.
Nasir Nayan et al. also investigated climate change perceptions of pre-service
teachers at Sultan Idris Education University, Myanmar (Nayan et al., 2020). The
study surveyed 500 final-year students from 9 different faculties. The survey content is
based on four main criteria: knowledge, attitudes, skills, and practical actions on
climate change adaptation and mitigation. The results showed that the students'
11


knowledge and attitude were good, while the skills and practice were just above
average. From there, the team pointed out that this result shows that the efforts of the

Ministry of Education and the university have met the set goals, as skills and practice
will improve over time.
At the College of Education, the University of Nueva Caceres, Philippines,
Ronnel Joseph T. Competente also surveyed pre-service teachers on climate change
knowledge, attitudes towards climate change education, and the potential in their
teaching in the future (Competente, 2019). The results show that the attitude of trainers
on climate change education is relatively poor, and knowledge about climate change is
almost no difference between new students and former students. The author also points
out that the intern teachers need to have in-depth knowledge and practical activities to
integrate climate change into teaching in the future. In addition, there should be a link
between training programs for student and faculty development, especially in terms of
enhancing the content of climate change education.
Jin Su Jeong and his team performed a climate change awareness analysis for
pre-service teachers with a flipped class intervention model at the Teaching Training
School of the University of Extremadura, Spain (Jeong et al., 2021). The results
showed that there had been a progression in raising awareness of the pre-service
teachers through the scientific learning environment, and they are more willing to
engage with climate change teaching. Research has also shown that flipped class
intervention may contribute significantly to overcoming the limitations of traditional
classroom approaches in climate change tertiary education. From there, pre-service
teachers can enhance their expertise and vision to bring innovation in teaching at the
primary level.
In terms of overview, studies all show the vital role of climate change education
and awareness raising for pre-service teachers and students of pedagogy. Awareness,
knowledge, attitudes, skills, and practical actions of intern teachers significantly
influence their teaching and students' future. However, studies primarily show that,
even if pre-service teachers have a good attitude towards climate change education, the
scientific knowledge about climate change is low and often confused. Knowledge
about this field was almost unchanged during the process of teacher training. This can
12

be explained by many reasons such as the complexity, interdisciplinary of climate
change, or the source of information that education students receive mainly from the
traditional media, which do not have high reliability.
2.2.2. Domestic research
In Vietnam, there are some studies on climate change awareness with
undergraduate students, such as:
Nguyen Tat Thang and his team researched to study students' awareness of Hanoi
University of Agriculture (T. T. Nguyen et al., 2013). The research team has surveyed
800 school students using the method of randomly classifying by faculty and
generations. Research focuses on students from the Faculties of Agriculture, Food
Technology, Natural Resources and Environment, Veterinary Medicine, Electrical
Engineering, Livestock, and Aquaculture. The student's level of awareness is average
for the concepts of climate change, and to a fair degree with the impact of climate
change on the development of agriculture, forestry, fisheries, and the lives of the
people in rural areas. However, final year students have a better level of awareness
than the other year students.
Nguyen Thanh Hoa also assessed Can Tho University students’ awareness,
attitude, and behavior (T. H. Nguyen et al., 2020). Subjects surveyed include 120
students from four faculties, including the Faculty of Education. Research results show
that students are highly aware of climate change's concepts, manifestations, and
impacts on their daily lives. However, Pedagogy students have lower awareness levels
than other faculties such as the Environment, Agriculture, and Economics. One
positive result is that the interviewed students said they would change their living
habits and participate in public awareness raising activities on climate change.
In addition, some studies by scientists and educators in Vietnam also emphasize
the need to integrate and combine climate change education contents into the general
education curriculum (T. Q. Nguyen, 2021, pp. 82–119; D. T. Tran, 2012, p. 120).
However, to effectively teach integrated climate change content in high schools, it is

necessary to have a flexible and reasonable approach (Tong, 2015, p. 99). Some
studies can be mentioned, such as Nguyen Tat Thang's doctoral thesis on integrating
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climate change education in teaching Biology for upper secondary school. (T. T.
Nguyen, 2018); Nguyen Thi Viet Ha on using project methods to improve teaching
capacity in integrated teaching climate change for students of Geography pedagogy (T.
V. H. Nguyen, 2016); Bien Van Minh and Pham Quang Chinh on integrating the
content of climate change education into Technology subject at grade 10 (Bien &
Pham, 2015). In general, the content of climate change education that integrates or
relates to subjects is increasingly getting more attention to equip Vietnamese students
with more appropriate knowledge, attitudes, and skills in the future.
Based on the above international and domestic studies, the author establishes a
research hypothesis (as mentioned in section 1.3) about the average level of student’s
knowledge and awareness of content related to climate change, as well as good
awareness of their role in climate change education. These levels are the initial
expectations of the author, neither too high nor too low when considering pedagogical
students of many different faculties.
2.3. Novelty of research
This study will have some new features compared to previous studies, especially
in Vietnam.
- Clarify the theoretical basis of climate change education awareness for
pedagogical students.
- Review and analyze the content related to climate change education in the
current and the new upper secondary education program.
- Develop a criteria table to assess pedagogical students' awareness of climate
change education in the upper secondary education program.
- Survey students' awareness to verify proposed scientific hypotheses, from
which to propose recommendations.

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CHAPTER 3. METHODOLOGY
3.1. Methods
3.1.1. Selective Inheritance
- Using methods to inherit information, data, published and verified arguments of
governments, organizations, and scientific researches.
- The contents related to climate change in the upper secondary education
programs are identified mainly by titles and keywords. Directly related content is the
content with the title or requirements directly stating the terms like ―climate change‖,
―global warming‖, etc. Topics of natural science subjects such as Biology and
Geography that can be indirectly related to climate change issues are often identified
with keywords such as "sustainable development", "ecology" , ―fossil energy‖, ―clean
energy‖, ―socio-economic activities‖, etc. In addition, social subjects can also integrate
this issue through class hours of teaching about historical events, cultures, selective
topics with free themes, practical activities outside of class. The determination of the
number of class hours for each content is thoroughly referenced from the allocation of
teaching hours specified in the two programs.
3.1.2. Probability Sampling
The study focused on pedagogical students of 10 faculties as follows:
- Faculty of Geography

- Faculty of Philology

- Faculty of Chemistry

- Faculty of Biology

- Faculty of History

- Faculty of English

- Faculty of Technical Education

- Faculty of Mathematics-Informatics

- Faculty of Politics - Civic Education

- Faculty of Physics

The generations selected for the survey are first-year and fourth-year students.
This selection is intended to clarify the comparison of pedagogical students' awareness
before and after the training process. The faculties selected for the survey are those
that train teachers to teach popular subjects in the upper secondary education program.
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For the case of the Faculty of Technical Education, cause there were no students in the
third and fourth years (the previous years did not recruit enough students to form a
class), the data of fourth-year students of this faculty in the latter part of the thesis is
survey data of second-year students.
To collect data, the sample size in this study is calculated by the following
formula (Yamane, 1967) with n: sample size; N: population (around 3500 students); e:
sampling error (5%)
n = N / [ 1 + N(e2)]
Based on this formula, the number of necessary survey samples is 359 samples.
The original plan was to survey 400 students, with 20 first-year and 20 fourth-year
students in each faculty. At last, the total number of samples collected was 795, of

which 741 are valid and will be used and analyzed so that the survey results can
represent the population. Thus, the number of first-year students participating is 1.75
times that of fourth-year students, 472 compared with 269 (See Appendix 5).
3.1.3. Surveys and Questionnaires
- Data is collected online through Google Survey Form.
- The questionnaire is made up of 4 parts:
+ Part 1: Multiple choice questions on basic knowledge about climate change.
+ Part 2. Survey questionnaire on awareness about contents related to climate
change in education programs
+ Part 3. Survey questions about students' awareness of their role in climate
change education
+ Part 4. Sub-questions
- The questionnaires with references and synthesis from National Aeronautics
and Space Administration (NASA) quiz, studies of Boon (2016), Nation (2017),
Misistry of Education and Training (MOET) documents.

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