Low-Cost Educational Materials and University Student Teachers’ Recycling Knowledge and Attitudes: A Quasi-Experimental Study

This study explores the impact of low-cost environmental laboratory materials on university students’ knowledge and attitudes toward waste recycling. Anchored primarily in Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory and informed by Situated Learning and Constructionism, the study conceptualizes low-cost materials as cultural tools that mediate learning through social interaction, authentic contexts, and material transformation. A quasi-experimental design was adopted to evaluate changes in students’ cognitive and affective domains. Findings revealed a statistically significant improvement in students’ knowledge following the intervention, indicating the effectiveness of the instructional approach in enhancing conceptual understanding of recycling. However, no significant change was recorded in students’ attitudes toward waste recycling. While the intervention succeeded in advancing knowledge, which is a foundational element for environmental stewardship, our findings highlight the limitations of cognitively oriented pedagogies in influencing pro-environmental attitudes. Nevertheless, our study underscores the importance of continuing to seek ways of integrating affective, experiential, and context-sensitive learning approaches into environmental education to foster holistic sustainability competencies.