Simonette C. Villabeto,
College of Arts and Sciences, Cotabato Foundation College of Science and
Technology, Doroluman, Arakan, Cotabato, Philippines. wrote a research article
about, Environmental Awareness Among CFCST Students: Building a Greener Future.
Entitled, Green minds, brighter future exploring environmental awareness among
Cotabato foundation college of science and technology (CFCST) students. This
research paper published by the Journal of Biodiversity and Environmental Sciences | JBES. an open access scholarly research journal Biodiversity. under
the affiliation of the International Network For Natural Sciences| INNSpub. an
open access multidisciplinary research journal publisher.
Abstract
This study investigated
the level of environmental awareness of second year college students of
Cotabato Foundation College of Science and Technology (CFCST), Doroluman,
Arakan, Cotabato, Philippines across the seven environmental concepts: Balance
of Nature, Pollution, Stewardship, Finiteness of Resources, Change,
Interdependence, and Diversity and Stability. Using a descriptive research
design, structured survey questionnaires were administered to 106 randomly
selected students from various degree programs. The results revealed that the
students are very much aware of all seven environmental concepts, indicating a
strong understanding of ecological relationships and environmental responsibility.
When grouped according to gender, significant differences were found in the
concepts of Balance of Nature, Pollution, and Stewardship, where female
students exhibited higher awareness than males. However, no significant
difference was observed when students were grouped according to their major
field of concentration, indicating a consistent level of environmental
awareness across disciplines. The study concludes that the high level of
awareness may be attributed to the effective integration of environmental
education in the curriculum. It is recommended that the college continue to
strengthen its environmental education programs, enhance gender engagement
strategies, and extend future studies to include other year levels and academic
programs to provide a more comprehensive assessment of environmental awareness.
Introduction
Environmental awareness-the
capacity to recognize, interpret, and evaluate the biophysical and
socioecological elements of one‟s surroundings-is a foundational component of
environmental literacy and an essential prerequisite for responsible
environmental behavior (Hollweg et al., 2011; Sengupta et al., 2010).
Environmental literacy comprises interrelated domains of knowledge, attitudes,
skills, and values that enable individuals to identify environmental problems,
assess their causes and consequences, and engage in informed decisionmaking to
promote sustainability. In the contemporary era, increasing population density
and rapid technological advancement have intensified anthropogenic pressures on
ecosystems, manifesting in resource depletion, pollution, habitat loss, and deteriorating
public health-trends that emphasize the urgent need for enhanced public
understanding of environmental issues (Ejem and Bello, 2013; Yap et al., 2024).
Although technological and industrial
development have yielded economic benefits and global interconnectedness, these
advances frequently entail ecological trade-offs.
Industrialization and
technology-driven productivity can accelerate environmental degradation when
not coupled with scientific understanding and effective stewardship (Mandler et
al., 2012). Consequently, fostering environmental awareness is not solely a
matter of imparting facts; it requires educational strategies that cultivate
analytical reasoning, socio-scientific judgement, and a commitment to
sustainable practices. Recent scholarship highlights that instruction which
explicitly links scientific concepts to socio-scientific issues enhances
students‟ capacity to apply disciplinary knowledge to real-world environmental
problems (Georgiou and Kyza, 2023). Within the sciences, chemistry occupies a
central role in explaining the mechanisms underlying many environmental
phenomena-ranging from pollutant transformation and nutrient cycling to
material degradation and chemical hazards. Chemistry education therefore has
unique potential to contribute to environmental literacy by equipping learners
with conceptual frameworks and methodological tools to diagnose environmental
problems, evaluate risks, and propose evidence-based interventions (Mandler et
al., 2012; Asworo, 2024). Pedagogical approaches that foreground green
chemistry principles and socio-scientific inquiry have been shown to strengthen
students‟ scientific literacy and orientation toward responsible citizenship,
thereby bridging abstract chemical knowledge and practical environmental
stewardship (Georgiou and Kyza, 2023).
Empirical evidence from
both international and Philippine contexts indicates variability in
environmental literacy across educational levels and curricular emphases.
Studies in the Philippines report moderate levels of environmental literacy
among senior high school students, suggesting opportunities for deeper,
higher-education interventions to consolidate environmental understanding and
proenvironmental behaviour (Mahinay et al., 2023).
Moreover, research synthesizing
trends in chemistryliteracy scholarship reveals a growing emphasis on linking
chemical knowledge with broader literacy goals-an evolution that supports the
rationale for investigating the relationship between science curricula and
environmental awareness at the tertiary level (Asworo, 2024).
-analyses and primary
studies indicate that gender may moderate environmental concern and engagement,
with females often reporting higher environmental sensitivity (Zelezny et al.,
2000). Likewise, students‟ majors and the epistemic orientation of their
coursework (e.g., science- vs. education-oriented curricula) may produce
differing levels of exposure to environmental content and scientific modes of
inquiry, thereby influencing environmental awareness (Ejem and Bello, 2013;
AlBarakat et al., 2025).
Guided by these
theoretical and empirical considerations, the present study aims to examine the
level of environmental awareness among second-year college students of the
Cotabato Foundation College of Science and Technology. It particularly seeks to
describe their awareness in terms of key environmental concepts-balance of
nature, pollution, stewardship, finiteness of resources, change,
interdependence, and diversity and stability- and to explore how this awareness
may differ according to gender and field of specialization.
Through this
investigation, the study endeavors to provide empirical insights into how
exposure to science-oriented disciplines, particularly chemistry, influences
students‟ environmental understanding and contributes to the cultivation of
environmentally literate and responsible citizens.
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