New Jersey Leaves No Bite Behind: A Climate Change and Food Waste Curriculum Intervention for Adolescents in the United States
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To evaluate the effectiveness of the NJLNBB program in improving climate change knowledge, attitudes, self-efficacy, and behaviors among fifth-grade students (10–11 years of age), a cluster randomized controlled study design was implemented. This study design was approved by the Institutional Review Board at Rutgers University (Pro2021002505). Parental consent was obtained from participants prior to implementing the intervention.
2.3. Instruments
To evaluate the effectiveness of the NJLNBB curriculum, all participants completed pre- and post-test surveys using a paper/pencil format in the classroom. An adaptive version of the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) was used as a framework, which aided in the design of the survey. The TPB is one of the most popular social-psychological models for predicting behavior [22] and has been widely used in food waste research [25]. All questions on the surveys were created de novo (see Appendix A for the survey items and scales). The online survey was cognitively tested with fifth-grade students (N = 5) and assessed for face validity with content experts (N = 3) on the Theory of Planned Behavior constructs prior to implementation. Experts on survey development were involved in all phases of survey development (i.e., question development, content analysis, cognitive interviews, and pilot testing). Both the pre- and post-test surveys had the following outcome variables, which are the Theory of Planned Behavior constructs, as described below.
Participants’ knowledge of climate change concepts including the food system, food waste, food miles, and composting concepts were assessed by 10 multiple-choice items. A percentage of total knowledge scores from all questions answered correctly was calculated, with higher scores indicating greater knowledge of climate change concepts.
Social norms (four items), attitudes (six items), and self-efficacy (four items) scales were measured on a five-point Likert scale (i.e., 1 = strongly disagree, 2 = disagree, 3 = undecided, 4 = agree, 5 = strongly agree). All items were averaged, with higher mean scores indicating greater influence received from others to engage in climate-friendly behaviors (social norms), positive attitudes toward climate-friendly behaviors (attitudes), and greater confidence toward adopting climate-friendly behaviors (self-efficacy).
A total of six items on a five-point Likert scale (i.e., 1 = very unlikely, 2 = unlikely, 3 = undecided, 4 = likely, 5 = very likely) assessed behavioral intentions. Items were averaged, with higher means scores indicating greater intentions toward adopting climate-friendly behaviors.
Perceived behavioral control (five items) was assessed on a five-point Likert scale (i.e., 1 = very difficult, 2 = difficult, 3 = neither difficult nor easy, 4 = easy, 5 = very easy) All items were averaged, with higher mean scores indicating greater perceived ease of control over adopting climate-friendly behaviors.
Motivation to comply (five items) was assessed on a five-point scale (i.e., 1 = not at all, 2 = slightly, 3 = moderately, 4 = very, 5 = extremely) All items were averaged, with higher mean scores indicating greater motivation towards adopting climate-friendly behaviors.
Climate-friendly behaviors (six items) were assessed on a five-point frequency scale (i.e., 1 = never, 2 = a little, 3 = sometimes, 4 = often, 5 = almost always). All items were averaged, with higher means scores indicating a greater frequency of engaging in climate-friendly behaviors.
Demographic Characteristics. On the pre-test survey, participants self-reported their age, gender, ethnicity, and racial category. Participants had the option to not respond to any of the demographic questions.
Program Satisfaction. On the post-test survey, only the experimental group was asked to respond to eight questions on a five-point Likert scale (i.e., 1 = strongly disagree, 2 = disagree, 3 = undecided, 4 = agree, 5 = strongly agree) that assessed their satisfaction with the NJLNBB program (e.g., “The NJLNBB lessons were fun.”). Additionally, one item asked participants to report how many times they played the NJLNBB online games, and another item inquired whether they showed the online games with their friends or family. The last question asked the experimental group to comment on what they thought about the NJLNBB program.
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