Data collected to assess the effect of inquiry-based learning on environmental knowledge and attitudes among pre-service biology teachers in Tanzania

Abstract

The proliferation of global environmental problems has necessitated the need to re-examine the environmental impacts caused by human-nature relations. Yet individual attitudes and environmental literacy remain among the critical determinants of environmental sustainability. Consequently, environmental psychology has been one of the most effective tools for shaping people's actions in favor of the environment. As such, this article presents a dataset that describes an intervention carried out to explore the effect of inquiry-based learning on shaping environmental attitudes (EAs) and knowledge of pre-service biology teachers in selected teacher colleges (TCs) in Tanzania. Data were collected from four TCs located in four different regions of Tanzania (N = 333). Particularly, EAs were measured using the two-factor model of ecological attitudes (2-MEV) by assessing two uncorrelated domains of environmental attitudes: Preservation and Utilization of nature. In addition, a Competence Model for Environmental Education was used to measure the three dimensions (system knowledge, action-related knowledge, and effectiveness knowledge) of environmental knowledge among pre-service biology teachers. A modified design of the Solomon four-group was employed to guide the intervention in measuring the level of change in EAs and environmental knowledge before and after the study intervention. A paired-sample t-test was used to assess the effect of the intervention on TCs that had pre- and post-tests, given the variation in the number of subjects in each TC. In addition, the one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) compared the mean scores of the combined study groups at the post-test. Besides, in the regression analysis, Hayes' PROCESS macro (version 4.1) was used to assess the moderation effect of the Social Desirability Responding (SDR) on the relationships between EAs and environmental knowledge. Likewise, age (in years) was entered as a covariate in the regression model of the Statistical Product and Service Solution (IBM SPSS version 25). The presented dataset can act as a basis for improving the status of environmental education delivery in teacher education in Tanzania and other areas with similar or related contexts. Thus, program-specific interventions could be designed for prospective biology teachers as potential change agents in shaping how people interact with the environment.