3.2. Perception toward Climate Change
Objective one aimed to assess the level of perception among the students about climate change. The results of the climate change perception section show that students have a positive tendency towards climate change statements. Seven of the fifteen statements (P5, P9, P10, P12, P13, P14, and P15) showed more than 80% acceptance, and one of the fifteen (P4) showed more than 70% acceptance.
Table 2 shows the frequency and percentage of responses to the statements of perception towards climate change.
For the most part, participants agree with Statement P12, namely that changes in the Earth’s surface as a product of climate change would increase the risk of extinction of animals (83.3%). The statement aligns with a report by Guasch [
40], who concluded that, due to climate change, animals are becoming sensitive to changes in temperature, giving three options, i.e., adapt, move, or die.
A large part of the students (82.1%) considers that the variation in the distribution of precipitation throughout the year as a product of climatic change generates problems for humanity (P14). According to Toulkeridis et al. [
11], in Ecuador, there are areas of the Highlands where rainfall has been low, and consequently, the population has struggled for decades.
Statement P15, about climate change having resulted in lower agricultural yields, has the third-highest agreement from the participants (81.8%). This perception aligns with the evidence [
41], which reveals that agriculture is one of the most vulnerable sectors due to changes in precipitation and temperature patterns. All this is associated with less water availability in the aquifers and increased pollutants. In addition, it is expected that the returns of the main crops will decrease significantly worldwide by the year 2050 [
41].
It should be noted that most of the participants (81.2%) have in mind that, at present, variations can be seen in the temperature patterns as a product of climate change (Statement P13). This is similar to what was reported by the Instituto de Hidrología, Metereología y Ambiente [
42], which found that the majority of people surveyed in the Colombian Caribbean region (74.79%) perceive climate change as a series of variations concerning the stability of the temperature, which can be evidenced at present.
Statements P10 (80.9%) and P9 (78.3%) had similar percentages of acceptance in the category “agree”, which encompasses agree and strongly agree. In the case of Statement P10, participants agree that recycling helps mitigate the impacts of climate change. A study conducted by Yu et al. [
43] highlighted recycling as an effective climate change mitigation strategy. This study was based on green education in universities and found that 82% of the students who participated intended to recycle. Similarly, statement P9 measured participants’ perception of whether they considered taking action to address climate change to be a moral duty. In a study conducted in Chile, 96% of those surveyed stated that they strongly agreed to take these actions [
44].
On the other hand, in statement P3, climate change is mentioned as a theory that has not been proven, and more than half (67.2%) of the students totally disagreed with this statement. This can be corroborated by Sills et al. [
45], who reported on the scientificity of climate change science.
Ordinal Likert data were transformed into percentages for further analysis. The statements of perception towards climate change were assigned the following values: 1 (TD: Totally disagree), 2 (D: Disagree), 3 (N: Neither agree nor disagree), 4 (A: Agree), and 5 (TA: Totally agree). For the reverse-coded statements, these values were assigned from 5 to 1. In this way, the range of values (maximum and minimum) was between 30 and 74. The minimum value was 30 (n = 1; 0.29%), and the maximum value was 74 (n = 1; 0.29%). The mean in the perception section was 56.08 (SD = 7.78).
Considering the study of Durán Gabela et al. [
46], these percentages were categorized as high, medium, and low. These categories were replicated in this research, using the same parameters of selection:
- (a)
Low perception: values less than 60%;
- (b)
Average perception: values between 60 and 80%;
- (c)
High perception: values greater than 80%.
Of the respondents, the majority are in the medium perception category (
n = 191; 55.85%), followed by high perception (
n = 125; 36.55%). These general results agree with what was found by Vignola et al. [
47], who conducted a study in Costa Rica and found a high level of perception of climate change issues. The similarities could be due to public education and communication efforts.
Table 3 shows the level of perception towards climate change.
3.3. Climate Change Knowledge
For objective two, which aimed to assess the students’ climate change knowledge level, students were evaluated on 15 items, each with the options of correct, incorrect, and I do not know. To determine the frequency, responses were grouped into the following two categories: correct and incorrect; for the incorrect category, the “I do not know” answers were added.
Table 4 presents the results, both in frequencies and in percentages. The results show that the majority were correct on 12 of the 15 items.
The statements that the vast majority (>75%) answered correctly were K14, K5, and K3, as will be explained below. Question K14 was the most accurate (87.4%), stating that human activities generate greenhouse gas emissions. A study by the Environmental Protection Agency [
58] presents evidence for this, explaining that carbon dioxide (CO
2) is the most important anthropogenic greenhouse gas and accounts for most of the warming associated with human activities.
The second most accurate responses were for K5, with 79.2%, which states that, since the industrial revolution, the concentration of CO
2 has increased. Bogan et al. [
59] explain that a sudden increase in the concentration of CO
2 in the atmosphere since the industrial revolution is due to human activities, including fossil fuels and biomass burning, land use changes, and industrial activities. The third most accurate set of responses was for K9, with a moderate acceptance (75.1%), stating that methane is a greenhouse gas. This is similar to what was found in a study conducted in Spain, where the main greenhouse gas was evaluated, with 76.96% of the answers being correct [
60].
Most students (81.5%) answered incorrectly on statement K4, which claimed climate change has no bearing on precipitation and drought patterns. Research by Howe et al. [
61] suggests that people often rely on personal experiences and focus on isolated weather events rather than recognizing long-term climate trends. Further research is needed to understand how people connect these events to climate change.
While 75.1% of students correctly identified CO
2 as a significant driver of climate change, a large majority (78.3%) gave an incorrect answer to statement K7, which stated that current CO
2 levels are the lowest in human history. Wachholz et al. [
21] highlight the scarcity of recent research on college student climate knowledge, making it challenging to pinpoint consistent patterns. One explanation for this discrepancy could be the persistence of misconceptions about climate change, potentially fueled by media portrayals, biased online content, and political rhetoric [
19,
21].
Finally, the third most incorrect statement (K15) claimed oceans cannot absorb human-emitted CO
2. Research by Jarrett and Takacs [
62] found that 83% of participants believed oceans hold little to no carbon, and 47% chose an answer indicating minimal carbon exchange between oceans and the atmosphere. This highlights a misunderstanding of established climate science [
62].
In the knowledge section, each correct answer obtained a value of 1, while the incorrect ones and “I do not know” a value of 0. Therefore, the range was between 0 and 15. The lowest score recorded was 0 (
n = 9; 2.6%) and the highest was 15 (n = 5; 1.5%). The mean was 8.77 (SD = 2.85), the median was 9, and mode 10. As shown in
Table 5, the highest proportion of students have a medium knowledge about climate change (46%), followed by low (40%) and high (14%).
Objective three comprised four Mann–Whitney tests to explore climate change perception and knowledge among students, considering gender and place of residence. For rural vs. urban groups, non-significant differences were found in both perception (U = 13769.00, p = 0.77, Mean Rank: Rural = 164.71, Urban = 167.85) and knowledge (U = 12445.00, p = 0.21, Mean Rank: Rural = 173.97, Urban = 160.85).
Similarly, in the gender-based comparison, no significant differences were observed in either perception (U = 12599.00,
p = 0.09, Mean Rank: Female = 177.03, Male = 157.35) or knowledge (U = 14572.50,
p = 0.57, Mean Rank: Female = 166.30, Male = 172.25). This result differs from the study by Pantoja-Espinosa [
63], who found that female students from the University of Huaraz in Peru had higher knowledge and perception of climate change than their male counterparts. The difference could be due to educational efforts at the university, which could be the subject of future research efforts.
For the fourth objective, we investigated the relationship between participants’ perceived climate change knowledge and their evaluated knowledge. Participants were asked to rate their perceived knowledge about climate change on a scale of 0 to 10. The minimum value was 0 (n = 4; 1.17%), the maximum was 10 (n = 35; 10. 30%), and the mode was 5 (M = 6.41, SD = 2.17). Visual inspection indicated a linear relationship between the variables.
A regression analysis was conducted to predict the evaluated knowledge based on the perceived knowledge. The results obtained were significant (β = 0.32, F = 21.928;
p < 0.01, with an R
2 of 0.06, although the analysis of variance [ANOVA] indicates statistical significance; the perceived knowledge barely explains 6.0% of the variation of evaluated knowledge. Moreover, for every unit increase in perceived knowledge, evaluated knowledge increases by 0.32. Thus, assuming that perceived knowledge accurately represents measured knowledge is inappropriate. This finding echoes Papadimitriou’s [
64] study, which similarly concluded that students’ knowledge about climate change was often erroneous and poorly understood.
3.5. Discussion of Results
The findings of our study, which indicate medium levels of perception and knowledge about climate change in agronomy, can be contextualized within the broader framework of Knowledge, Attitude, and Perception (KAP) models. These models are particularly relevant in public health [
67,
68], environmental education [
69,
70], and behavioral change studies [
71,
72]. They provide a structured way to examine the interrelations between these three dimensions. Applying KAP models to climate change represents a promising approach for advancing the understanding of climate change education.
In the KAP model, knowledge refers to individuals’ information and understanding of a particular issue [
73,
74]. Our study assessed knowledge about climate change through true/false questions covering its causes, effects, concepts, and relationship with human beings. The students demonstrated a medium level of knowledge, indicating a foundational understanding of climate change and revealing significant gaps that must be addressed.
When analyzing knowledge based on the average scores for each construct—causes, effects, concepts, and relationship with humans—we found that agriculture-based students had a higher understanding of climate change causes (64.7%), its relationship with human beings (64.1%), climate change concepts (56.6%), and climate change effects (52.74%). Overall, they scored above 50%. However, enhancing their understanding of climate change concepts and its effects is crucial.
While these students comprehend the causes and their connection to humanity, they lack awareness of climate change’s effects and more profound climate change concepts. One reason could be the current school curricula. It has been reported that, although school curricula provide sufficient guidance for professors to develop students’ understanding, skills, and values regarding climate change, the coverage might differ depending on the needs of each specialization [
75,
76].
Students demonstrated a moderate understanding of climate change, indicating they recognize it as a significant issue. However, a detailed evaluation of the various constructs that form this perception revealed some interesting insights. After adjusting for reversed statements to ensure accurate interpretation, it was found that students had the highest perception of climate change’s negative effects (81.7%), environmentalism (79.6%), and perceived benefits (76.4%). In contrast, their perception of skepticism (65.6%) and perceived risk (64.8%) was lower. Notably, the economic aspect of climate change scored significantly lower at 42%.
This disparity suggests a need to better address the economic consequences of climate change in student education [
77]. One possible reason for this gap is that climate change education often emphasizes individual actions, such as reducing carbon footprints, while neglecting the broader economic implications [
78]. Additionally, students might find it challenging to relate climate change to its economic impacts on their own lives. Incorporating real-world examples or case studies relevant to their region or interests could help bridge this gap and enhance their understanding of the economic dimensions of climate change [
78,
79].
The significant but modest correlation between perception and knowledge (R
2 = 0.12,
p = 0.02) suggests that while knowledge can influence perception, other factors may have a greater impact. For example, previous studies have demonstrated that knowledge of climate change is strongly associated with heightened concern and positive attitudes towards the climate [
80]. Another important factor to consider is the perceived social consensus about climate change, which has been reported to impact perceptions significantly [
81]. Additionally, Xiang et al. [
82] found a significant relationship between perception and climate action. Their study suggests that individuals who perceive climate change as too global to affect them or too overwhelming to be impacted by their efforts are much less involved in climate action than those with higher tractability perceptions. Furthermore, research has shown that values influence personal perceptions and concerns regarding climate change. Individuals who report holding altruistic values tend to have higher levels of concern and are more likely to trust scientific evidence on the anthropogenic causes of climate change [
83,
84,
85].
Effective communication strategies are essential to bridge the gap between knowledge and perception [
83]. These strategies should include using locally contextualized examples, addressing the local impacts of climate change, and engaging students in participatory learning experiences [
80,
81]. Relating climate change to the students’ immediate environment and future professional contexts can enhance their perception, fostering a deeper understanding of the issue. This approach could also help address other climate change-related issues, such as migration [
86,
87], poverty [
29], and food insecurity [
27,
28].