Research Article

Knowledge and awareness on the fishery resources of elementary and high school students

Antonino B. Mendoza Jr 1 * , Mariel B. Bernadas 1 , Aileen B. Rances 1 , Michael C. Borejon 1 , Maria Luisa U. Tango 1 , Raul G. Bradecina 2
More Detail
1 Bicol University Tabaco Campus, Tabaco City, PHILIPPINES2 Partido State University, Goa, Camarines Sur, PHILIPPINES* Corresponding Author
Aquademia, 7(1), 2023, ep23002, https://doi.org/10.30935/aquademia/13118
Published: 26 March 2023
OPEN ACCESS   217 Views   218 Downloads
Download Full Text (PDF)

ABSTRACT

Knowledge and awareness on the natural resources among elementary and high school students are important attributes for future resource conservation and management. However, the enslaving features of gadgets and technologies has shifted the focus of the students away from nature-based knowledge and has motivated the government to integrate environmental education (EE) to the basic education programs. However, its implementation has not been successful due to lack of teaching materials and limits on teachers’ capabilities. As such, it was found out that knowledge of elementary, junior high school (JHS) and senior high school (SHS) students on the native and unique natural resources of Bicol Region are almost the same, with an average score of 40%. But intervention through the use of EE teaching materials developed from the research publications and reports of Bicol University Tabaco Campus faculty-researchers showed that an increase of 31%, 21%, and 28% have been observed for elementary, JHS, and SHS students, respectively. However, a significant difference (p<0.05) was observed between high schoolers from urban setting as compared to the upland and island students with regards to the prior knowledge on natural resources, on the other hand, significant change was also observed in the increase of knowledge in upland (30% increase for JHS, and 42% for SHS) and island students (22% and 27% for JHS and SHS, respectively) as compared to the urban students (12% and 17% for JHS and SHS, respectively). No differences were observed for the elementary students across sites. Several factors were identified to influence knowledge and awareness of students such as, access to internet and mass media, exposure to local situations and prior knowledge, and influence of family and community.
Overall, knowledge and awareness of elementary and high school students on the local natural resources are relatively low but existence of local and relevant EE learning materials can help increase them. It is therefore, recommended that EE through the KADUNUNG program should be institutionalized to improve knowledge and awareness of students in Tabaco City.
Keywords: KADUNUNG, environmental education, DepEd Tabaco, learning materials

CITATION (APA)

Mendoza Jr, A. B., Bernadas, M. B., Rances, A. B., Borejon, M. C., Tango, M. L. U., & Bradecina, R. G. (2023). Knowledge and awareness on the fishery resources of elementary and high school students. Aquademia, 7(1), ep23002. https://doi.org/10.30935/aquademia/13118

REFERENCES

  1. Abejuela, G. A., Bobiles, R. U., Mendoza, A. B., Bernadas, M. B., Rances, Borejon, M. C., Tango, M. L. U., & Bradecina, R. G. (in press). Environmental awareness, knowledge, and attitude of teachers in Tabaco City, Albay with emphasis to Bicol’s natural resources.
  2. Aliyyah, R. R., Rachmadtullah, R., Samsudin, A., Syaodih, E., Nurtanto, M., & Tambunan, A. R. S. (2020). The perceptions of primary school teachers of online learning during the COVID-19 pandemic period: A case study in Indonesia. Journal of Ethnic and Cultural Studies, 7(2), 90-109. https://doi.org/10.29333/ejecs/388
  3. Ballantyne, R. (2004). Young students’ conceptions of the marine environment and their role in the development of aquaria exhibits. GeoJournal, 60(2), 159-163. https://doi.org/10.1023/B:GEJO.0000033579.19277.ff
  4. Boyd, D. J., Grossman, P. L., Lankford, H., Loeb, S., & Wyckoff, J. (2009). Teacher preparation and student achievement. Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, 31(4), 416-440. https://doi.org/10.3102/0162373709353129
  5. Brody, M. J. (1996). An assessment of 4th-, 8th-, and 11th-grade students’ environmental science knowledge related to Oregon’s marine resources. The Journal of Environmental Education, 27(3), 21-27. https://doi.org/10.1080/00958964.1996.9941463
  6. Brody, M. J., & Koch, H. (1990). An assessment of 4th-, 8th-, and 11th-grade students’ knowledge related to marine science and natural resource issues. The Journal of Environmental Education, 21(2), 16-26. https://doi.org/10.1080/00958964.1990.9941927
  7. Bush, S. R., & Hirsch, P. (2005). Framing fishery decline. Aquatic Resources, Culture and Development, 1(2), 79-90.
  8. Carleton-Hug, A., & Hug, J. W. (2010). Challenges and opportunities for evaluating environmental education programs. Evaluation and Program Planning, 33(2), 159-164. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.evalprogplan.2009.07.005
  9. Chapman, D., & Sharma, K. (2001). Environmental attitudes and behavior of primary and secondary students in Asian cities: An overview strategy for implementing an eco-schools programme. Environmentalist, 21(4), 265-272. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1012996016601
  10. Chawla, L. (2008). Participation and the ecology of environmental awareness and action. In A. Reid, B. B. Jensen, J. Nikel, & V Simovska (Eds.), Participation and learning (pp. 98-110). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-6416-6_6
  11. Eaton, S. E. (2020). Academic integrity during COVID-19: Reflections from the University of Calgary. International Studies in Educational Administration, 48(1), 2020. 80-85.
  12. Fisman, L. (2005). The effects of local learning on environmental awareness in children: An empirical investigation. The Journal of Environmental Education, 36(3), 39-50. https://doi.org/10.3200/joee.36.3.39-50
  13. Galang A. P. (2010). Environmental education for sustainability in higher education institutions in the Philippines. International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education, 11(2), 173-183. https://doi.org/10.1108/14676371011031892
  14. Jena, A. K., Bhattacharjee, S., & Langthasa, P. (2015). Effects of multimedia on knowledge, understanding, skills, practice and confidence in environmental sustainability: A non-equivalent pre-test-post-test, quasi experimental design. Journal of Educational Technology, 12(3), 37-47. https://doi.org/10.26634/jet.12.3.3744
  15. Labrell, F., Mikaeloff, Y., Perdry, H., & Dellatolas, G. (2016). Time knowledge acquisition in children aged 6 to 11 years and its relationship with numerical skills. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 143, 1-13. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jecp.2015.10.005
  16. Lemke, A. M., Lindenbaum, T. T., Perry, W. L., Herbert, M. E., Tear, T. H., & Herkert, J. R. (2010). Effects of outreach on the awareness and adoption of conservation practices by farmers in two agricultural watersheds of the Mackinaw River, Illinois. Journal of Soil and Water Conservation, 65(5), 304-315. https://doi.org/10.2489/jswc.65.5.304
  17. Marpa, E. P. (2020). Navigating environmental education practices to promote environmental awareness and education. International Journal on Studies in Education, 2(1), 45-57. https://doi.org/10.46328/ijonse.8
  18. Mendoza Jr, A. B., Borejon, M. C., & Bista, J. K. B. (2021a). Status of coral reefs in Lagonoy Gulf, Eastern Bicol, Philippines with emphasis on marine protected areas. Asian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Research, 15(6), 123-129. https://doi.org/10.9734/ajfar/2021/v15i630357
  19. Mendoza Jr, A. B., Nieves, P. M., & Borejon, M. C. (2021b). Factors linking declining reef health ecosystem to poverty in Lagonoy Gulf, Eastern Bicol, Philippines. Journal of Social Science Studies, 8(2), 135-147. https://doi.org/10.5296/jsss.v8i2.18548
  20. Nura, K. T., & Endris, F. S. (2020). Assessment of levels of community awareness to effects of forest degradation and their environmental management practices in Jimma Zone, South Western Ethiopia. International Journal of Multicultural and Multireligious Understanding, 7(2), 212-228. https://doi.org/10.18415/ijmmu.v7i2.1501
  21. Prandi, C., Ceccarini, C., Nisi, V., & Salomoni, P. (2021). Designing interactive infographics to stimulate environmental awareness: An exploration with a university community. Multimedia Tools and Applications, 80(9), 12951-12968. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11042-020-09140-w
  22. Punzalan, C. H. (2020). Evaluating the environmental awareness and practices of senior high school students: Basis for environmental education program. Aquademia, 4(1), ep20012. https://doi.org/10.29333/aquademia/8219
  23. Rogayan, D., & Nebrida, E. E. E. D. (2019). Environmental awareness and practices of science students: Input for ecological management plan. International Electronic Journal of Environmental Education, 9(2), 106-119.
  24. Soliman, V. S. (1994). Conservation and management of Lake Manapao (Philippines), a ‘Sinarapan’ (Mistichthys luzonensis) sanctuary: Status, problems and solutions. Internationale Vereinigung für Theoretische und Angewandte Limnologie: Mitteilungen [International Association for Theoretical and Applied Limnology: Notices], 24(1), 279-283. https://doi.org/10.1080/05384680.1994.11904049
  25. Tan, M. (2004). Nurturing scientific and technological literacy through environmental education. Journal of International Cooperation in Education, 7(1), 115-131.
  26. Wilkinson, C., Caillaud, A., DeVantier, L., & South, R. (2006). Strategies to reverse the decline in valuable and diverse coral reefs, mangroves and fisheries: The bottom of the j-curve in Southeast Asia? Ocean & Coastal Management, 49(9-10), 764-778. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ocecoaman.2006.06.014
  27. Yusuf, N. (2021). The effect of online tutoring applications on student learning outcomes during the COVID-19 pandemic. ITALIENISCH, 11(2), 81-88.
  28. Zhao, S., Lü, B., Li, R., Zhu, A., & Wu, C. (2016). A preliminary analysis of fishery resource exhaustion in the context of biodiversity decline. Science China Earth Sciences, 59(2), 223-235. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11430-015-5193-4