Environmental Awareness of Biology Education Students Through Social Media: Addressing Local Issues
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.55215/jber.v7i1.86Keywords:
biology education, environmental awareness, local ecology, NEP scale, social mediaAbstract
Environmental degradation caused by illegal mining, deforestation, forest fires, and poor waste management, represents not only an environmental crisis but also a critical educational issue. These conditions indicate a low level of environmental awareness, emphasizing the urgency of cultivating ecological responsibility among prospective teachers. As future educators, they play a strategic role in integrating environmental values into learning processes to promote sustainable attitudes and behaviors among students. This study aims to assess the environmental awareness profile of biology education students, using social media to contextualize local ecological issues. A quantitative descriptive design was applied to 78 purposively selected students who had completed the conservation biology course. Data were collected using a validated 35 item questionnaire based on the New Ecological Paradigm (NEP) scale, covering five dimensions: limits to growth, anti-anthropocentrism, fragility of nature’s balance, rejection of exceptionalism, and possibility of an ecocrisis. Results show that overall environmental awareness was in the good category, with the highest scores in fragility of nature’s balance and possibility of ecocrisis, and the lowest in rejection of exceptionalism. This study concludes that biology education students demonstrated a good level of environmental awareness across the five dimensions of the NEP. These findings indicate that prospective biology teachers possess a relatively strong ecological perspective, which may support their future role in promoting environmental responsibility in schools. Future environmental education initiatives may benefit from integrating social media as a contextual platform for presenting local environmental issues and strengthening students' engagement with ecological challenges.
References
Amirullah, G., Pelitaningsih, S., & Meitiyani. (2024). New Environmental Paradigm (NEP) dan perilaku pro-lingkungan pencapaian tujuan ke 13 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGS). DE_JOURNAL (Dharmas Education Journal), 5(1), 668–674.
Amjad, A. I., Sheikh, B. S., Aslam, S., Muthukrishnan, P., & Khasawneh, M. A. S. (2026). Examining the influence of ecological literacy, social media, and community involvement on teachers’ sustainable teaching practices. Discover Sustainability, 7(431), 1–17.
Annisa, L. H. ‘In, Rukmana, B. F., Wahyudi, I., & Amrullah, M. (2025). The relationship between screen time and speech and language development in 3-6 years children. THRIVE Health Science Journal, 2(2), 80–88.
Ardoin, N. M., & Bowers, A. W. (2020). Early childhood environmental education: A systematic review of the research literature. Elsevier, 31(100353), 1–16.
Ardoin, N. M., & Heimlich, J. E. (2021). Environmental learning in everyday life: Foundations of meaning and a context for change. Environmental Education Research, 27(11–12), 1681–1699.
Arikunto, S. (2016). Prosedur Penelitian Suatu Pendekatan Praktik. Rineka Cipta.
Azizah, Z. F., Karyanto, P., Prayitno, B. A., & Sapartini, R. R. (2017). The reinforcement friendly environment behavior readiness of high school students through specific pedagogy development based with PjBL on ecological subject. Proceeding Biology Education Conference, 14(1), 415–423.
Bentler, D., Kadi, G., & Maier, G. W. (2023). Increasing pro-environmental behavior in the home and work contexts through cognitive dissonance and autonomy. Frontiers in Psychology, 01–14.
Berze, I. Z., Varga, A., Ferenc, M., Der, K. N., & Andrea, D. (2022). Measuring environmental worldviews: Investigating the dimensionality of the new environmental paradigm scale for children in a large central european sample. Sustainability, 14(4595), 1–17.
Chawla, L. (2020). Childhood nature connection and constructive hope: A review of research on connecting with nature and coping with environmental loss. People Nature, 2, 619–642.
Creswell, J. W., & Creswell, J. D. (2018). Research design: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approaches (5th ed.). SAGE Publications.
Cruz, S. M., & Manata, B. (2020). Measurement of environmental concern: A review and analysis. Frontiers in Psychology, 11, 1–14.
Dong, M., Palomo-vélez, G., & Wu, S. (2021). Reducing the gap between pro-environmental disposition and behavior: The role of feeling power. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 51, 262–272.
Dunlap, R. E., Liere, K. D. Van, Mertig, A. G., & Jones, R. E. (2000). Measuring endorsement of the new ecological paradigm: A revised NEP scale. Journal of Social Issues, 56(3), 425–442.
Guswahyuni, S. M. (2018). Pertambangan emas tanpa izin dan masalah public health pada anak-anak yang tinggal di sekitar. Proceedings of the 3rd UGM Public Health Symposium. 12.
Hamidah, N., Hidayat, T., Sriyati, S., & Hadibarata, T. (2024). Assessing sustainability literacy in green school through citizen science project on biodiversity learning. Jurnal Inovasi Pendidikan IPA, 10(2), 150–159.
Husamah, H., Rahardjanto, A., Lestari, N., & Hadi, S. (2024). Environmental literacy profile of Muhammadiyah senior and vocational high school students in Malang Raya, East Java: What’s interesting?. Jurnal Biolokus: Jurnal Pendidikan Biologi dan Biologi. 7(2), 251–278.
Ives, C. D., Abson, D. J., Wehrden, H. Von, Dorninger, C., & Klaniecki, K. (2018). Reconnecting with nature for sustainability. Sustainability Science, 13(5), 1389–1397.
Janmaimool, P., & Khajohnmanee, S. (2019). Roles of environmental system knowledge in promoting university students’ environmental attitudes and pro-environmental behaviors. Sustainability, 11(4270), 2–18.
Kehutanan, P. S. L. H. dan. (2020). Laporan kinerja LPDB KUMKM tahun 2019. Kementrian Lingkungan Hidup dan Kehutanan.
Kuntjoro, M. F. H. P., & Alvin, S. (2023). Examining social media marketing strategies for building brand awareness: A case study of instagram foom.id. Jurnal Multidisiplin Madani, 3(8), 1766–1771.
Lumber, R., Richardson, M., & Sheffield, D. (2017). Beyond knowing nature: Contact, emotion, compassion, meaning, and beauty are pathways to nature connection. PLoS ONE, 10(1371), 1–24.
Marcineková, L., Štěrbová, M., Výbošťok, J., & Sarvašová, Z. (2024). Slovakia and its environmental transformation: Measuring environmental attitudes using the new ecological paradigm. Frontiers in Psychology, 01–09.
Martin, L., White, M., Hunt, A., Richardson, M., Pahl, S., & Burt, J. (2020). Nature contact, nature connectedness and associations with health, wellbeing and pro-environmental behaviours. Pearl, 1–55.
Martini, M. (2019). Hubungan antara pengetahuan lingkungan dengan perilaku prolingkungan sekolah adiwiyata (studi kasus SDN 21 Taluak Kab. Agam). Rang Teknik Journal, 2(1), 71–78.
Meutia, A. A., Bachriadi, D., & Gafur, N. A. (2023). Environment degradation, health threats, and legality at the artisanal small-scale gold mining sites in Indonesia. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 20(18).
Miterianifa, M., & Mawarni, M. F. (2024). Penerapan model pembelajaran literasi lingkungan dalam meningkatkan pengetahuan dan kesadaran lingkungan. Jurnal Sains dan Edukasi Sains, 7(1), 68–73.
Monroe, M. C., Eames, C., White, P. J., Ardoin, N. M., Monroe, M. C., Eames, C., White, P. J., & Ardoin, N. M. (2023). Education to build agency in the Anthropocene. The Journal of Environmental Education, 54(6), 351–354.
Murzyn, D., Mroczek, T., & Czy, M. (2025). Environmental awareness and responsibility: A machine learning analysis of Polish University students. Sustainability, 17(8577), 1–31.
Nasution, N. A., & Siregar, E. S. (2024). The diversity of understorey plants in Siranggas Wildlife Reserve, Pakpak Bharat District, North Sumatra. Journal of Sylva Indonesiana, 7(02), 140–147.
Nugraha, A. P., Kurnia, A., Irawan, P., & Putra, P. (2024). The impact of social media on social interaction and self-identity in Indoneisa society. Journal of Social Research, 3(9), 1–8.
Otto, S., & Pensini, P. (2017). Nature-based environmental education of children: Environmental knowledge and connectedness to nature, together, are related to ecological behaviour. Global Environmental Change, 47(2017), 88–94.
Pratama, A. (2024). Indonesia’s social media landscape: YouTube , instagram , and linkedin. Compepiart, 1(1), 1–12.
Pratiwi, C., Yunarti, S., & Komsiah, S. (2023). Peran mahasiswa dalam menjaga kelestarian lingkungan dengan memanfaatkan media sosial. Sosial dan Humaniora, 7(3), 390–404.
Punzalan, C. H. (2024). Environmental education in junior high school science: Teachers’ integration perceptions through distance learning modality. Jurnal Pendidikan IPA Indonesia. 13(2), 358–366.
Putra, J. P., Supriadi, & Izzatika, A. (2024). Pengaruh konten media sosial terhadap sikap peduli lingkungan siswa sekolah dasar. Mimbar Kampus: Jurnal Pendidikan dan Agama Islam, 23(3), 1350–1363.
Rahayu, S., Lutfillah, N. Q., & Sari, D. P. (2021). Cost [in]efficiency di balik kebakaran hutan dan lahan.
Jurnal Akutansi Multiparadigma, 12(2), 351–369.
Rahmawati, S., Muthohar, S., & Fatmawati, N. M. (2025). Implementasi nilai-nilai pendidikan karakter peduli lingkungan anak usia dini pada tayo the little bus movie. Jurnal Ilmiah Global Education, 6(4), 2726–2747.
Rahmi, M., Nurhidayati, S., & Samsuri, T. (2023). Pengaruh bahan ajar berbasis potensi lokal terhadap kemampuan berpikir kritis dan sikap peduli lingkungan siswa. Bioscientist: Jurnal Ilmiah Biologi, 11(1), 685–695.
Ramadhan, M. A., & Sevilla, V. (2024). Peran konten di media sosial tiktok terhadap sikap peduli lingkungan. Jurnal Muara Ilmu Sosial, Humaniora, dan Seni, 8(3), 504–512.
Riduwan. (2009). Skala pengukuran variable-variabel penelitian. Alfabeta.
Ridwansyah, M., Hidayat, S., & Anwar, N. (2020). Water pollution, income loss and health impact as externalities from illegal gold mining: A case study from two districts in Jambi Province, Indonesia. International Journal of Innovation, Creativity and Change. 12(3), 211–224.
Sari, D. P., & Alega. (2024). Penegakan hukum lingkungan aspek hukum pidana: Kasus kebakaran hutan dan lahan di Provinsi Jambi oleh PT Kaswari. Jurnal Ilmiah Wahana Pendidikan, 10(23), 978–994.
Setioningrum, P., Meilinda, & Destiansari, E. (2025). Environmental sustainability awareness dalam konteks food waste: Analisis pada mahasiswa calon guru biologi. Wahana-Bio: Jurnal Biologi dan Pembelajarannya, 17(2), 93–101.
Sudijono, A. (2018). Pengantar evaluasi pendidikan. Rajawali Press.
Susanti, T., Utami, W., & Amimi, D. (2018). The negative impact of illegal gold mining on the environmental sector in Batang Asai, Jambi. Sustinere, 2(3), 128–143.
Tewu, D., Destine, D., & Gunawan, I. (2025). Analysis of social media user growth and its implications for digital marketing strategies in Indonesia 2024. International Journal of Management Studies and Social Science Research, 07(03), 236–245.
Wibowo, Utaya, S., Wahjoedi, W., Zubaidah, S., Amin, S., & Prasad, R. (2024). Critical thinking and collaboration skills on environmental awareness in project based science learning. Jurnal Pendidikan IPA Indonesia, 13(1), 103–115.
Wibowo, Y. G., Ramadan, B. S., Maryani, A. T., Rosarina, D., & Arkham, L. O. (2022). Impact of illegal gold mining in Jambi, Indonesia. Indonesian Mining Journal, 25(1), 29–40.
Yulianti, R., Sukiyah, E., Sulaksana, N., Limun, K., Sarolangun, K., & Limun, S. (2016). Dampak limbah Penambangan Emas Tanpa Izin (PETI) terhadap kualitas air Sungai Limun Kabupaten Sarolangun Provinsi Jambi. Bulletin of Scientific Contribution: Geografi. 14, 251–262.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Journal Of Biology Education Research (JBER)
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
