Environmental Awareness of Biology Education Students Through Social Media: Addressing Local Issues
Abstract
Environmental degradation in Jambi Province 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 at UIN Sulthan Thaha Saifuddin Jambi, using social media to contextualize local ecological issues. A quantitative descriptive design was applied to 78 purposively selected students from the 2021-2022 cohorts who had completed the Conservation Biology course. Data were collected using a validated 35 item questionnaire based on Dunlap et al., 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 an overall environmental awareness level of 85.77% (Good), with the highest scores in fragility of nature’s balance (91.80%) and possibility of ecocrisis (89.97%), and the lowest in rejection of exceptionalism (78.24%). The findings suggest that students environmental awareness is influenced by formal environmental education, experiences of local environmental degradation, and exposure to environmental issues through social media, while differing socio-environmental backgrounds may shape variations in awareness. The study concludes that strengthening place based and digitally supported environmental learning is important in fostering pro ecological dispositions among prospective biology teachers.
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