The effect of sustainable environmental tourism training on the development of eighth-grade Omani students’ attitudes towards the environment and their inclination to engage in entrepreneurship in environmental tourism projects

Abstract

The study aimed to explore the effectiveness of a sustainable environmental tourism educational program in influencing the attitudes of eighth-grade Omani students towards the environment and their inclination to engage in entrepreneurship in environmental tourism projects. The study adopted a quasi-experimental design with two groups: experimental and control. A sample of 134 eighth-grade students and two instruments were used: an environmental attitude scale (37 items), and a scale measuring inclination towards engagement in sustainable environmental tourism entrepreneurship projects (33 items). The validity and reliability of both instruments were confirmed, with a total reliability coefficient of 0.701 for the first tool and 0.837 for the second tool. The data was analyzed by calculating the mean values and standard deviations of the scale items, and multiple three-way analysis of the variance scale were used to compare the independent variables of the study. The study results revealed the effectiveness of the educational program in developing students’ attitudes toward the environment in favor of the experimental group. Additionally, the results showed a statistically significant difference, at the significance level α = 0.05, in inclinations towards engagement in sustainable environmental tourism entrepreneurship projects in favor of the experimental group. The study recommends supporting and empowering students to work on entrepreneurial projects related to environmental tourism, including field visits to environmental tourist sites, as an integral part of the curriculum.

Keywords

• Educational program
• environmental attitude
• entrepreneurship
• sultanate of Oman
• Sustainability Education, Training & Leadership
• Secondary Education