Environmental knowledge, attitudes, and practices for behavior change of university students: the case of Indonesia

Abstract

Environmental knowledge has been learned formally in schools including universities and informally through lineage, the community, and the media. Knowledge, attitudes, and practices is a survey technique used to measure the phenomenon of human life as well as its impact on behavior and how it contributes to environmental management. The objective of this research is to examine the relationship between university students' environmental knowledge and attitudes, practices, and their contribution to behavior change. It was conducted at Indraprasta University PGRI-Jakarta, Indonesia, with a sample size of 137 students, 49 undergraduates of biology education, and 88 postgraduates of mathematics and natural science. In addition, the data analysis method used is a Statistical Non-parametric Bivariate Pearson Correlation. The research concluded that 63 percent of students learned environmental knowledge formally from schools, 15 percent from non-formal education, and 22 percent by both formal and non-formal means. Moreover, the students' understanding did not contribute to their attitude but encouraged their practices significantly. Furthermore, their attitude did not influence the implementation within their real life, but those who practice the information can promote environmentally friendly behaviors.