THE ROLE OF SCHOOL AND HOME PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS ON STUDENTS CONNECTEDNESS TO NATURE, ENVIRONMENTAL ATTITUDE, AND PRO-ENVIRONMENTAL BEHAVIOR

• Main Author: Zatalini Zakirah, Fildzah
• Format: Theses
• Language: Indonesia
• Subjects: Arsitektur
• Online Access: https://digilib.itb.ac.id/gdl/view/52049
• Institution: Institut Teknologi Bandung

The growing number of environmental problems shows how important the role of society is for environmental sustainability. To build public awareness, environmental education is required which can be formally carried out in schools and non-formally at home. The physical environment of the school and home can be a means to increase a child's environmentally friendly behavior. The two physical environments were examined in this study because the physical environment at school and home have a high influence on the development of children's behavior. The form of indirect environmental education that is integrated into the physical environment can be seen from the naturalness of the environment and the presence of direct and indirect access to interact with nature. Only a few research associated with environmental education through the physical environment, especially those related to the natural level of the environment and direct and indirect interactions with nature. The indirect interaction with nature raised in this study is visual access to the natural environment through building elements, namely windows. In previous research, direct interaction with nature was found to have a direct relationship with a sense of connectedness with nature and environmental attitudes and an indirect relationship with pro-environmental behavior (PEB). However, research related to the relationship between the physical environment and PEB still has conflicts between findings, so it is necessary to conduct research that reveals how the characteristics of the physical environment relate to PEB. This study aims to reveal how the relationship between the physical characteristics of school and home with a sense of connection with nature, environmental attitudes, and PEB. This study also aims to reveal physical factors that have a direct and indirect relationship with students' PEB This research uses quantitative research methods that are explanatory. This research data collection technique used a closed-ended questionnaire with four measurement scales, namely Connectedness to Nature Scale-children (CNS), Connection to Nature Index (CNI), New Environmental Paradigm (NEP (Children @ School)), and General. Ecological Behavior (GEB (Children @ School)) adapted to the Indonesian context. The questionnaires were distributed online using the non-random sampling method using a snowball sampling technique to elementary school students grade 4,5,6 and junior high school students grade 1,2,3 in D.I.Yogyakarta Province. The data in this study are perceptual data. Data related to the physical environment was measured based on the perceptions of each student regarding the natural level of the environment about how much area was planted with grass, the number of green plants, and the number of trees in their school and home environment. Student perception data regarding visual access to the natural environment is related to the existence of viewing access to the outside of the room, the size of the room window, and the natural level of the view seen through the window. The data that has been collected is then analyzed using principal component analysis, then factor analysis to find the latent variables/dimensions of each factor, and followed by pairwise correlations analysis to see the relationship between all factors. ANOVA analysis was also used in this study to see the comparison of environmentally friendly behavior between elementary and junior high school students. The results of the analysis show that the physical characteristics of schools and homes have a direct relationship with the three dimensions of environmentally friendly behavior, namely the dimensions of environmental care, environmental awareness, and energy saving. The level of student interaction with nature at school and home tends to have a different role in students' sense of connection with nature, environmentally friendly attitudes, and environmentally friendly behavior. Schools tend to play a role in increasing environmental awareness through environmental and community education. The naturalness of the school environment, the existence of visual access to the natural environment, and the environmental awareness of people in the school can increase students' environmental-friendly behavior, especially in terms of caring for the environment. Meanwhile, the house tends to play a role in increasing closeness to nature and the pleasure of being in nature more intensively for individuals. The level of interaction with nature at home has a direct relationship to environmental care behavior, environmental care behavior, and energy-saving behavior. At the educational level, elementary and junior high school students' environmentally friendly behavior has differences in the dimension of environmental indifference, where junior high school students are found to behave more indifferently to the environment than elementary school students.