American Research Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences

Climate change presents significant environmental and educational challenges, particularly in climate-vulnerable countries such as the Philippines. This study examined the levels of climate change knowledge, attitudes toward climate action, and climate action behavior among first-year college students and explored the relationships among these variables as a basis for a proposed Climate Change Education Program. A quantitative, explanatory-correlational research design was employed, involving 120 first-year college students selected through purposive sampling. Data were gathered using a researcher-developed climate change knowledge test, an attitude toward climate action scale, and a climate action behavior scale. Descriptive statistics, Spearman rank-order correlation, and bootstrapped mediation analysis were used for data analysis. Results indicated that students generally demonstrated high to very high levels of climate change knowledge, positive attitudes toward climate action, and a high level of engagement in climate action behaviors. Correlation analysis revealed that climate change knowledge was not significantly related to attitudes or behavior, while attitudes toward climate action showed a strong and positive association with climate action behavior. Further, mediation analysis revealed that attitudes toward climate action fully mediated the relationship between climate change knowledge and climate action behavior. These findings highlight the critical role of attitudes in translating climate knowledge into meaningful action and provide empirical support for the Knowledge–Attitude–Behavior model. The study recommends integrating attitudinal and action-oriented strategies into climate change education programs in higher education.