The study of the formation of the ecological imperative among students of higher educational institutions

Abstract

Relevance. Education is a key factor in shaping society's readiness to respond to the challenges of the modern world. Among the global factors that will determine the trends of world development in the near future, the greening of all aspects of human life plays an important role. The aggravation of environmental problems poses a question to the education system about the compliance of the level of environmental education with the needs of society and the education system. The purpose of the work is to assess the level of formation of ecological culture and ecological imperative of students based on the analysis of research data and compare it with the tasks facing modern society. Methodology. To assess the level of ecological knowledge, the formation of ecological culture and ecological imperative, the author's questionnaire was used, aimed at identifying the features of individual consciousness concerning the awareness of the relationship between man, society and nature. The study was conducted in two stages, using Google Forms and focus group methods. The study involved 215 students of technical areas of all bachelor's and specialty courses of the Moscow Aviation Institute (MAI). Results and discussion. The analysis of the results of the study showed an insufficient level of formation of ecological culture and ecological imperative of students. The majority of students – 71% – have an approximate idea of the goals and objectives of modern ecology, and only 14% of respondents demonstrated a good knowledge of the conceptual apparatus. The respondents' low level of knowledge was noted in the field of legal ecology. At the same time, 79.6% are interested in environmental problems and their solution by searching for additional information from various sources. 93% of respondents consider the discipline "Ecology" necessary. The results of the study confirm the importance of environmental education for solving the problems of sustainable development. Conclusion. Trends in the development of society require the introduction of a new paradigm of education that ensures the formation of a person with a humanistic and ecological worldview, the basis of which can be the discipline "Ecology". However, at this stage there is a contradiction between the need and the process of obtaining environmental knowledge in the modern education system. It is necessary to strengthen the environmental component, primarily at the level of higher professional education. The results of the study have theoretical and practical significance in the development of educational and methodological complexes on ecology and programs aimed at the formation of new environmentally valuable worldview attitudes and behavioral skills of high school students.