Vol. 1 No. 3 (2025): August
Articles

Digital and Botanical Literacy Profiles for Sustainability: A Study on Biology Students

Dinar Anggarani
Universitas Negeri Malang
Murni Sapta Sari
Universitas Negeri Malang
Sulisetijono Sulisetijono
Universitas Negeri Malang

Published 30-08-2025

Keywords

  • Digital literacy,
  • botanical literacy,
  • science education,
  • sustainability,
  • learning

How to Cite

Anggarani, D. ., Sari, M. S., & Sulisetijono, S. (2025). Digital and Botanical Literacy Profiles for Sustainability: A Study on Biology Students. Journal of Applied Educational Study, 1(3), 19–33. https://doi.org/10.64460/jaes.v1i3.107

Abstract

Higher education plays a crucial role in promoting sustainability, particularly in establishing professional individuals who able to apply sustainable knowledge and ideas. The awareness of the importance of botany is hampered by student's low interest and knowledge about plants. The low relationship between botany and humans is an obstacle in achieving sustainable development. Digital literacy plays an important role in increasing botanical literacy conversely. ICT technology can help increase botanical literacy and reduce the level of plant awareness disparity due to digital literacy serves access to extensive botanical information and online interaction. This research method is quantitative and qualitative method with survey to biology students and interview with botanical lecturers at several universities in Malang, East Java. The research instrument consists digital literacy questionnaire refers to Carretero et al. (2017), botanical literacy test refers to Uno (2009) level model, and interview guidelines and survey about botanical learning in higher education. The data analysis used is quantitative and qualitative descriptive analysis. The findings suggest that digital literacy among students in Malang Raya is generally adequate but varies by aspect, with particularly weaknesses in information and data literacy. Group A shows the highest botanical literacy across all levels, though lower multidimensional scores highlight challenges in applying this knowledge broadly. Integrating digital and botanical literacies through project-based learning and meaningful assignments can enhance engagement and support students' understanding of sustainability issues. Future research should focus on designing and evaluating innovative curriculum models that integrate botanical literacy with digital technology to foster student engagement and sustainability awareness.

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