The Effect of Coral Reef Comic Media Implementation on Students’ Environmental Care Attitude in Indonesia

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to analyze students' environmental care attitudes towards coral reef ecosystems through the implementation of coral reef comic media in West Nusa Tenggara. This research was a quasi-experimental study that adopted and modified separate sample pretest-postest designs. Two pilot schools originating from Sumbawa Regency, namely SMAN 1 Alas and SMA Muhammadiyah Alas were randomly selected with a total of 50 students. Attitudes of students' environmental care is collected through a questionnaire. Scores on the questionnaire were then converted into percentages then analyzed by using paired sample t test to see differences in students' attitudes before and after treatment at each school, and independent sample t-test to see differences in student attitudes between observational schools. The results showed that (1) there were differences in the attitudes of students before and after being treated using the coral reef comics media in each observation school (p <.05), and (2) there were differences in the attitudes of students' environmental care between the two observation schools (p <.05). Based on the results of the study it can be concluded that (1) the implementation of coral reef comic media can increase students' positive attitudes about the environment especially the coral reef ecosystem, (2) students at schools that are geographically close to the coast tend to have a higher caring attitude than students at schools whose geographical location is far from the coast.