The Relationship between Social Attitudes and Environmental Literacy of High School Students

Abstract

Environmental problems due to human activities occur due to a lack of public awareness and understanding of the environment. The development of human knowledge and awareness of environmental problems can be done through including environmental literacy and social attitude in the learning process. Therefore, this study aims to determine the relationship between social attitudes and environmental literacy of students at Student High School 10 Malang. This survey uses a correlational research design. The sample in this study was 281 students of classes X, XI, and XII majoring in sciences and social studies who were selected using a stratified random sampling technique. Data collection using social attitude instrument and environmental literacy instrument adapted from the Middle School Environmental Literacy Survey (MSELs). Data analysis using Pearson correlation with a significance level of 0.05. The results showed that students' social attitudes value is 80.1 (good category) while students' environmental literacy score is 186 (moderate category). Furthermore, the correlation coefficient value is 0.26 which means there is a low relationship between social attitudes and environmental literacy of students. The students' actions towards the environment are related to their attitudes. The relationship between social attitudes and students' environmental literacy can appear during learning, such as when students learn about the components that make up the ecosystem by direct observation, students will raise a responsive attitude when they see plastic waste on the ground and will immediately pick it up and throw it in the trash. Students who have good social attitudes will have a good response to a social object and the natural environment. A good response to the environment will lead to environmentally responsible actions, so students who have this attitude are environmentally literate.