Active Learning Increases Knowledge and Understanding of Wildlife Friendly Farming in Middle School Students in Java, Indonesia

Abstract

The main objective of environmental education is to promote pro-environmental behaviors; increasing knowledge and understanding are the first steps. Active learning plays a crucial role in increasing engagement levels and achieving positive behavioral development. We aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of a wildlife-friendly farming curriculum, including active learning, presented to 223 students aged 13–15 years from ten middle schools in Garut Regency, Indonesia, from June to September 2019. Using pre- and post-questionnaires, we found that knowledge retention and understanding increased if students completed an exercise that involved an active discussion with parents and if the class was engaged (monitored via WhatsApp groups) in an active learning experiment. Key concepts regarding wildlife-friendly farming, such as mutual benefits for wildlife and humans, the provision of ecosystem services by animals, and the use of organic farming, were more frequent if students discussed the program with parents or if they were engaged during the experiment. We found evidence that student engagement via active learning increased knowledge retention and understanding of wildlife-friendly farming. Similar approaches should be used to promote wildlife-friendly farming approaches from even younger ages and should be tested with other projects aimed at producing pro-environmental behaviors.