environmental awareness

ISSN 2322 0023 IJAESS (2014) Vol.2, No.1, 11-15 Research Article

International Journal of Advancement in Education and Social Sciences

ENVIRONMENTAL AWARENESS AMONG

PROFESSIONAL AND NON-PROFESSIONAL

UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS OF ALIGARH

MUSLIM UNIVERSITY, ALIGARH

Nikhat I, Nikhat Yasmin Shafeeq

II*

I Department of Education, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh-202002

II* Section of Education, Womens College, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh-202002 ([email protected])

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ABSTRACT: In this study, the investigators attempted to investigate the environmental awareness in undergraduate students of professional and non-professional courses in relation to the type of course, gender, religion, socio-economic status

(SES) and academic streams. For this study, the sample consisted of 300 undergraduate students of professional and non-

professional courses from the Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh (U.P.) taking all the above selected parameters into

considerations. The investigators selected Environment Awareness Ability Measure (EAAM), developed by Dr. Praveen

Kumar Jha (1), as a tool to estimate environmental awareness among the students. The tool comprised of fifty one items,

specifically highlighting the following five components, to measure the extent of awareness among the students for

environmental pollution and its protection: (a) cause of pollution; (b) conservation of soil, forest, air etc.; (c) energy

conservation; (d) conservation of human health and, (e) conservation of wild life and animal husbandry. The data collected

was processed for statistical analyses through students t-test using SPSS (version:16.0). The study revealed that the students belonging to professional courses are more aware than students from non-professional courses. Moreover, females are found

more aware and worried about the environmental problems. In conclusion, the present study shows that there is an influence

of gender, religion, SES and academic streams on the level of students environmental awareness.

KEYWORDS: Environmental awareness; Environmental pollution; Non-Professional course; Professional course

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. INTRODUCTION: Our environment or biosphere is self-sustained where every creature on the earth has the right to

exist. We humans, the Homo sapiens, the crown creature of God on the earth indiscriminately used the limited resources without thinking the ill effects of it and come at the point of time to wait and ponder on the environmental issues

concerned to each and every life on the earth. In fact environmental awareness implies information and understanding of

the environment, its creatures and simultaneously to solve the related environmental problems [(2),(3)]. For bio-

sustenance, one should have enough knowledge about its environment. In order to achieve it, environmental education has been an important subject of understanding to identify the values and clarifying concepts in order to develop necessary

skills to comprehend inter-relationships among biotic and abiotic factors [(4), (5)]. Based on the recommendations of

Ministry of Environment and Forests (MOEF), MHRD, NCERT, UGC and various State Departments of Education, the environmental awareness program has been incorporated as the compulsory subject in the curriculum at undergraduate

level to ensure covering of environmental components at various disciplines. Recently, several educators have also

showed varying levels of environmental awareness among secondary and senior secondary school students [(6),(7)]. In Aligarh, Eco-club has been instituted as a part to educate and to make aware the students about their

environment, ecosytem and related problems so that necessary steps could be taken to preserve our environment.

According to Shukla (8), world educators and environmentalist have repeatedly pointed out that a solution to

environmental crisis will require an environmental awareness which should be deeply rooted in the education system at all levels of school education. Today, environmental awareness is very important issue and thats why research and seminars

are being held world over. These issues cannot be resolved until and unless we make our students, who are the mature citizens of tomorrow, aware about the environmental issues. In this study, the investigators examined environmental

Nikhat & Shafeeq / International Journal of Advancement in Education and Social Science, Vol.2, No.1 12

awareness among undergraduate students in relation to type of course, gender, socio economic status (SES), religion and academic stream.

2. OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY: The objectives of the present study are as follows: 1. To study the level of environmental awareness of professional and non-professional undergraduate students. 2. To study the significant difference between boys and girls regarding environmental awareness.

3. To study the significant difference between of the students of different S.E.S among professional and non-

professional courses regarding environmental awareness. 4. To study the impact of religion on environmental awareness among professional and non-professional students.

5. To study the significant difference between male and female students of all streams, regarding environmental

awareness.

3. METHODOLOGY: The methodology adopted in the present study is descriptive in nature. This study used

quantitative methods to collect the data on awareness of respondents towards environment.

3.1. SAMPLE SIZE: The sample consists of 300 undergraduate students, 150 students from both the professional and

non-professional courses of Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh. The sample was collected from Womens College, Medical College, Engineering College and various Departments of Science, Social Science, Arts, and Commerce streams of A.M.U. Aligarh.

3.2. VARIABLES USED IN THE STUDY: In the present study, independent variables were Type of course, Gender, Religion, Socio Economic Status and Stream while environmental awareness was a dependent variable.

3.3. TOOL USED IN THE STUDY: The investigators aim was to study the attitude of students towards environmental

awareness. For this purpose, Environment Awareness Ability Measure (EAAM), a standard tool was selected.

3.3.1. DESCRIPTION OF THE TOOL: The tool used in the present work was the Environment Awareness Ability

Measure (EAAM) developed by Praveen Kumar Jha (1), Mandal University, Madhipura. This tool measures the extent and degree of awareness of students about environmental pollution and its protection.The EAAM consisted of five

components, viz. (a) Causes of pollution, (b) Conservation of soil, forest, air, etc.,(c) Energy conservation, (d)

Conservation of human health and, (e) Conservation of wild life and animal husbandry. There are several items in each component constituting in all 51 items on the scale. Each agree item carries the value of 1 mark and each disagree item

carries zero mark, but the negative items are scored inversely.

3.3.2. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS OF THE STUDY: The purpose of the present study was to measure the awareness of undergraduate students of professional and non-professional courses of A.M.U. towards environment. The study

examined whether or not awareness is differentiated by factors such as type of course, gender, socio-economic status

(SES), religion and academic stream. Since, the Statistical technique depends both upon the nature of data and purpose of study, therefore in this study the t-test was applied to find out the differences in the degree of awareness of students towards environmental awareness. We used Descriptive and Differential statistics for data analysis followed by software

analysis through SPSS 16.0.

4. RESULT AND DISCUSSION:

Courses

Number High (37-51)

Middle (16-36) Low (1-15)

Professional

Courses

150 143(95%) 7(5%) 0(0%)

Non-

Professional

Courses

150 40(27%) 106(70%) 4(3%)

Total 300 183 113 4

Table I. Showing percentage of students falling under different level of environmental awareness


As it is evident from Table I that in Professional courses 95% of total students have high levels of awareness, 5% of total students have moderate level of awareness and none fell in the category of low level of environmental awareness.

In the category of Non-Professional courses it was found that 27% of total students have high level of awareness, 70% of

total students have moderate level of awareness and 3% students fall in the category of low level of environmental awareness. So we can say that on an average Professional undergraduates are more environmentally aware / have high

level of environmental awareness in comparison of non-professional under-graduate students.

Group Number Mean Standard

deviation

t-value

Boys 150 39.97 5.094 4.102

Girls 150 42.18 5.879

Table II. Mean and standard deviation scores of Professional and Non-Professional undergraduate students regarding their gender difference

It is evident from Table II, when Boys are compared with Girls on their Environmental awareness, the calculated t-value (t=4.102) which was found to be significant at 0.05 level of confidence. The t-value indicates the effect of gender on Environmental awareness of student and claim that Girls are more aware than Boys.

Table III. Mean and standard deviation scores of Professional and Non-Professional undergraduate students regarding their Socio-economic status

As shown in Table III, when students of Professional courses belonging to Higher S.E.S. were compared with the students of Non-Professional courses belonging to Higher S.E.S on their Environmental awareness, the calculated t-value (t=3.644) was found to be significant at 0.05 level of confidence. The t-value signify the effect of high Socio-

Economic Status on Environmental awareness of students and it reveal that students of Professional courses are more aware than students of Non-Professional courses belonging to Higher S.E.S. When students of Professional and Non-

Professional courses belonging to Middle S.E.S. are compared on their Environmental awareness, the calculated t-value (t=3.463) was found to be significant at 0.05 level of confidence. The t-value indicates the effect of Middle S.E.S. on

Environmental awareness of student. It reveals that students of Professional courses are more aware than the students of Non-Professional courses belonging to Middle S.E.S. When students of Professional courses and Non-Professional

courses belonging to Low S.E.S. are compared on their Environmental awareness, the calculated t-value (t=2.989) was found to be significant at 0.05 level of confidence. It reveals that students of Professional courses belonging Low S.E.S. are more aware than students of Non-Professional courses belonging to Low S.E.S.

PROFESSIONAL COURSE NON-PROFESSIONAL COURSE

GROUP Number Mean S .D Number Mean S.D t-value

HINDU 49 43.76 4.798 46 38.24 5.069 5.449

MUSLIM 105 43.97 4.851 100 38.18 4.749 8.633

Table IV. Mean and standard deviation scores of Professional and Non-Professional undergraduate students regarding

their religion

As displayed in Table IV, when Hindu students of Professional courses were compared with Hindu students of

Non-Professional courses on their Environmental awareness, the calculated t-value (t=5.449) was found to be significant at 0.05 level of confidence. The t-value indicates the effect of courses on Environmental awareness of Hindu student of Professional and Non-Professional courses. This study reveals that Hindu students of Professional courses are more aware

than Hindu students of Non-Professional courses as the mean score of Professional Hindu students is more than the mean

score of Non-Professional Hindu students. When Muslim students of Professional courses are compared with Muslim

PROFESSIONAL COURSE NON-PROFESSIONAL

COURSE

GROUP Number Mean S .D Number Mean S.D t-value

High S.E.S 47 45.79 4.525 76 42.50 5.056 3.644

Middle S.E.S 82 39.89 5.681 53 36.85 3.640 3.463

Low S.E.S 21 43.05 5.181 17 38.88 2.736 2.989


students of Non-Professional courses on their Environmental awareness, the calculated t-value (t=8.633) was found to be significant at 0.05 level of confidence. The t-value shows the effect of courses on Environmental awareness of Muslim

student of Professional and Non-Professional courses .This study reveals that Muslim students of Professional courses are

more aware than Muslim students of Non-Professional courses as the mean score of Professional students is more than the mean of Non-Professional Muslim students.

Table V. Mean and standard deviation scores of undergraduate students regarding their stream i.e. between Arts and

Science, Arts and Commerce, Science and Commerce

As given in Table V, when Arts students were compared with Science students on their Environmental awareness, the calculatedt-value (t=4.305) was found to be significant at 0.05 level of confidence. The t-value signifies the effect of stream on Environmental awareness of student. The in-depth study reveals that Science students were more aware than

Arts students. When Arts students were compared with Commerce students on their Environmental awareness, the calculatedt-value (t=0.151) was not found significant at 0.05 level of confidence. The t-value is unable to assure the effect of Arts and Commerce stream on Environmental awareness of student and therefore reveals no significant

difference between Commerce and Arts students. When Commerce students were compared with Science students on their Environmental awareness, the calculatedt-value (t=3.068) was found to be significant at the 0.05 level of confidence. The t-value indicates the effect of Science and Commerce stream on Environmental awareness of student.

Moreover, it is found that Science student are higher in environmental awareness than Commerce students.

5. CONCLUSIONS: Based on the analyses of the data obtained in the present study, following conclusions are drawn:

1. The students of Professional courses have more environmental awareness than the students of Non-Professional courses.

2. Overall, the girls were found to be more concerned about their environmental problems as compared to boys. 3. S.E.S has direct effect on environmental awareness in students of both Professional and Non-Professional courses. 4. There is no impact of religion on students over environmental concern. It shows that Professional Hindu and Muslim

students have equal concerns about their environmental surroundings.

5. Science students were more aware than Arts students. There is no significant difference between Commerce and Arts students. Science student are higher in environmental awareness than Commerce students.

6. EDUCATIONAL IMPLICATIONS: No doubt, education is a strong means of overall development of personality

and quality of behavior and life of individual as well. Education connects the entire world as it may solve the problems

faced by human being globally. Generally, it is observed that concern for the environment is gradually decreasing or diminishing, which otherwise should not. Education is the only powerful instrument which stimulates awareness in human

beings towards environment. It enhances the concern of people towards their environment, their immediate surroundings

as well as towards the entire world. It is evident from the results that all students have a positive effect on environmental

awareness but the students of Professional Courses exhibit relatively higher degree of environmental awareness. Thus, including topics related to environment in the curriculum at every level will surely help in developing environmental

awareness.

Group Number Mean Standard

deviation

t-value

Arts

50 37.08 3.658 4.305

Science 50 40.28

4.695

Arts

50 37.08 3.658 0.151

Commerce 50 37.22

5.104

Science

50 40.28 4.695 3.068

Commerce 50 37.22 5.104


1. It is found that girls differ in their level of awareness about the environment as compare to boys. It shows that girls were more concern about their environment as compare to boys. So boys should be given extra education about the

environmental awareness at home as well as at school level.

2. Another interesting result is that when Hindu and Muslim students of all courses were compared then it was found that they do not differ in their awareness about the environment. But it is found that Hindu and Muslim professional

students are more concern about their environment as compare to Hindu and Muslim Non-professional students.

3. It is inferred that economic status of students has significant effect on their environmental awareness. High income group possess the highest level of awareness while middle income group has moderate level of awareness and low income group has significantly low in their level of awareness. The in-depth investigation has led to conclude that

environmental education shall be made compulsory subject from primary level irrespective of religion, socio-economic

status and gender.

7. ACKNOWLDEGEMENT: The authors are thankful to the Chairman, Department of Education for providing

necessary facilities. We also acknowledge the cooperation of all the respondents who constituted the sample for the present study.

REFERENCES:

1. Jha, P.K. 1998. Manual for Environmental Awareness Ability Measure. Agra, India: National Psychological Corporation. 2. Bandhu, D. and Ramanathan, N.L. 1982. Education for environment planning and conservation, I.E.S., Natrajan Publisher,

Dehradun. 3. Ministry of Environment and Forest. Education and Awareness. New Delhi: Annual Report. 2006- 07. 4. Aggarwal, J.C. 2005. Education for values, environment and human rights. New Delhi: Shipra Publications. 5. Thakur, K. 2012. A study of environmental awareness among senior secondary school students of Chandigarh. Research

Analysis and Evaluation. Vol .IV (38): 16-18. 6. Sharma, A. and Gupta, S. 2012. A comparative study of the level of environmental awareness among secondary level

students. Journal of Teacher Education and Research. Vol. 7 (1): 78-84. 7. Rajeev, K. et al., 2011. Environmental awareness among senior secondary students. Indian Journal of Environmental

Education. CTR. Environmental Education Centre. Chennai. 8. Shukla, R. D. 2001. Teaching of Science and Technology at School Level. School Science, New Delhi, National Council of

Educational Research and Training. pp. 12-20.

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