Knowledge and the Extent of Integration of Climate Change and Adaptation at Universities in Kenya
Abstract
This study investigated levels of awareness of climate change in five public universities in Kenya. The study aimed at assessing levels of knowledge on climate change issues among lecturers and students and documenting levels of access to information on climate change among lecturers and students. The study adopted a survey design. The population for the study consisted of 200 hundred undergraduates and lecturers. Data was analysed using both de-scriptive (frequency counts, percentages, means and standard deviations) and inferential sta-tistics (Chi-square test) and presented in the forms of charts and graphs. The results showed that teaching staff and students possessed a high level of awareness of the concept of climate change, and have access to the sources of information and factors of personal experience, public sources and education greatly influence their awareness. There was a statistically sig-nificant association between years teaching at the University (Chi-Sq. = 72.844, DF = 3, P-Value = 0.000) and integration of climate change in the courses taught. However, we found no asso-ciation between gender (Chi-Sq. = 2.534, DF = 1, P-Value = 0.111) and University (Chi-Sq. = 1.279, DF = 4, P-Value = 0.865) where a lecturer was teaching in terms of integration of climate change in the courses taught. These findings indicate the teaching staff and students in Kenya have a widespread awareness of climate change and its immediate threat to human society, while knowledge of how to deal with the challenge due to climate change is still limited. Almost half the respondents believed that climate change would result in impacts on human life. Nevertheless, the teaching staff and students need updated training on climate change and its effects
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