Kun-Hung Cheng

Purpose: This study aims to examine Taiwanese higher education students’ perceptions of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) using the knowledge, attitudes, behaviors and intention to participate (KABIP) framework, which builds on the traditional KAP model (knowledge, attitudes and practice) by distinguishing behavioral practice into observable behavior and intention to participate. It also explored how gender and learning background influence these perceptions and how the four constructs interrelate in shaping sustainability engagement. Design/methodology/approach: Survey data were collected from 213 students at universities across northern, central and southern Taiwan. The questionnaire assessed students’ perceived importance of the 17 SDGs and their KABIP dimensions to identify patterns of sustainability awareness and engagement. Findings: The findings showed that the students regarded climate action, zero hunger and no poverty as the most important goals, while partnerships, decent work and industry and innovation were viewed as less significant. The students reported high knowledge and positive attitudes toward the SDGs, but their behaviors and participation intentions were relatively weaker. Gender and learning background differences were evident: female students showed stronger knowledge and attitudes than males and humanities/social science students reported greater knowledge awareness than STEM peers. Behavior was the strongest predictor of intention, underscoring the importance of practical engagement in fostering sustained participation. Originality/value: This study provides empirical evidence from Taiwan on how personal background factors and perceived significance of the SDGs relate to sustainability engagement. By applying the KABIP framework in higher education, it enriches global understanding of student perceptions of the SDGs and highlights the need for education that bridges awareness and action, supporting both cognitive and behavioral dimensions of sustainability learning.

This study proposed a structural model for examining the role of epistemic belief and epistemic curiosity in students’ online academic help-seeking. A total of 262 higher education students responded to three research instruments. Through partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM), reliability was assessed, and validity evidence related to convergent and discriminant aspects was gathered to support the measurement model’s appropriateness in capturing the intended constructs. Structural model results revealed that students’ beliefs about knowing through academic help-seeking were associated with three types of online help-seeking behaviours: information searching, formal query and informal query. Further path analysis found that the students’ epistemic curiosity traits, including two types of interest (I-type) and deprivation (D-type), were the mediators in the relationships between epistemic belief and online academic help-seeking behaviours. While the I-type students who prefer to discover new information for inherent enjoyment tended to search for online information when encountering academic challenges, the D-type students who tend to seek information when they perceive informational deprivation preferred to send formal and informal queries for online help.

Focusing on the implementation of virtual field trips in elementary school classroom, this study aimed to explore pupils’ affective perceptions and cognitive performance in either immersive environments (using VR headsets, n=26) or projective environments (using traditional projection screen, n=26) through a quasi-experimental design. The results showed that the pupils exhibited stronger perceived immersion and positive attitudes toward virtual learning and achieved better learning effectiveness in the immersive setting than in the projective setting. We are continuing to expand this work for more understandings of immersive virtual field trips in elementary classrooms.

Research has addressed the benefits of immersive virtual reality (IVR) for affective learning rather than cognitive performance, indicating the necessity to explore what factors may influence learners’ attitudinal learning, defined as the result of instruction for changing learners’ attitudes, when engaging in immersive instructional mediums. This study proposes an affection-oriented model to understand the roles of young learners’ epistemic curiosity traits and triggered situational interest in their attitudinal learning from the affective, cognitive, and behavioral dimensions in IVR learning contexts. Through a series of PLS-SEM analyses with 90 elementary school students, the results of the measurement model test have verified the reliability and validity of the instruments employed in this study. The structural relationships among epistemic curiosity, situational interest, and attitudinal learning were also confirmed. The triggered situational interests of novelty and exploration intention during the IVR learning process were further identified as the mediators in the research model. While the students’ senses of novelty mediated the relationship between curiosity and cognitive attitudinal learning, their senses of interest in exploration intention mediated both the relationships between curiosity and affective attitudinal learning and between curiosity and behavioral attitudinal learning. This study contributed to establishing the theoretical framework for affection-oriented IVR learning.

Purpose: This study proposed a research model for verifying the structural relationships among users' perceived spatial presence (VR affordance), situational interest (affective factor) and behavioral attitudes (outcome) toward online virtual museum navigation. What role of situational interest plays in the relationships between spatial presence and outcomes was further examined.Design/methodology/approach: There were 141 adults invited to participate in the research trials on the navigation of the online virtual museum which was established by 3D space capture techniques. This study conducted a series of PLS-SEM to analyze the participants' quantitative responses to the surveys of spatial presence, situational interest and attitudes.Findings: The testing of reliability and validity for the measurement model of this study was satisfied. The significance of users' perceived situational interest: attention demand, instant enjoyment and exploration intention when navigating the online virtual museum with perceptions of spatial presence were identified. The mediation of situational interest in the relationships between spatial presence and behavioral attitudes were also verified.Practical implications: For the practical design of desktop-based online virtual museums, it is suggested that more engaging strategies such as narrative storytelling and gamified interaction could be integrated to enhance users' situational interest including attention demand, instant enjoyment and exploration intention.Originality/value: Through the examination of situational interest from multiple constructs, the research model of this study advanced the conceptual framework for understanding the consequences of VR affordance in online virtual museum navigation. The theoretical contribution to verifying the mediated role of situational interest was made.