Mapping of Student Sustainable Development Education Knowledge in Malaysia using Geographical Information System (GIS)

Abstract

This article aims to examine the levels of education for sustainable development (ESD) knowledge among students
in secondary schools according to zones in Malaysia by using GIS mapping. The five main zones of the study were
the north zone, the south zone, the east coast zone, the central zone, and the East Malaysia zone. This quantitative
form of study used a questionnaire as research instrument. Two types of sampling techniques were applied, namely
stratified sampling for school selection and simple random sampling for choosing respondents from the selected
schools. The three ESD knowledge variables measured in this study were knowledge of ESD content, knowledge of
environmental education and knowledge of health. The study results showed that in general the levels of sustainable
development education knowledge of secondary school students in all zones were high for ESD content knowledge
while moderate for environmental education knowledge and health knowledge. Meanwhile, the GIS map clearly
indicates the levels of knowledge among students seemed high in the north zone, central zone and east Malaysia zone,
at moderate levels in the south zone, and low in the east coast zone. In conclusion, there are differences between the
zones in terms of levels of knowledge of sustainable development education, and this gives an indication that
increasing sustainability-related activities in these zones with the participation of all parties—especially schools,
local communities and non-governmental organisations—may disseminate sustainability knowledge and practices at
all age levels and all school locations.