SUSTAINABILITY AWARENESS OF STUDENTS FROM A GREEN UNIVERSITY IN SABAH, MALAYSIA

Abstract

The Green campus has become a trend and it has also become an important factor for higher education providers in their bid to create a conducive learning experience for college students. The green campus concept endeavours to extend learning beyond the campus learning settings to develop responsible attitudes and commitment to the environment, both at home and in the wider community. Labelled as a boutique green university, it is timely to examine University College Sabah Foundation (UCSF) students’ sustainability awareness to find out if the green campus concept has made them more aware of their surroundings. The sample is drawn from the current UCSF students from six programmes. Quantitative research using questionnaire survey is used to measure the level of sustainability awareness of the students and to examine the relationship of the dependent variable (sustainability awareness index) with three independent variables - sustainability knowledge, behavioural attitude and sustainability information. Data collected is analysed using SPSS. Results from the study showed that sustainability knowledge and sustainability information have a significant influence in determining the level of sustainability awareness of the students. Based on the results obtained in this study, it can be deduced that efforts to further increase the awareness of the students can come from formal education and through the dissemination of sustainability information.