SUSTAINABLE WATER USAGE AWARENESS AMONG UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS

Abstract

The objectives of the research were 1) to study the level of sustainable water usage awareness among undergraduate students, 2) to compare the sustainable water usage awareness among undergraduate students based on demographic factors, 3) to study the relationship between commonly used media and the level of sustainable water usage awareness among undergraduate students, and 4) to study the relationship between knowledge and understanding in sustainable water usage and the sustainable water usage awareness among undergraduate students. The sample was 305 undergraduate students of Kasetsart University, who enrolled in the second semester of the academic year 2023. Data were collected by questionnaires. The statistics employed in this research were frequency, percentage, mean, standard deviation, t-test, One-Way ANOVA, LSD, Chi-square, Cramér's V, and Pearson Product Moment Correlation Coefficient. The statistical significance was set at .05. The research findings indicated an overall high level of awareness regarding sustainable water usage within the sample group (mean = 3.82, S.D. = .54). More precisely, heightened awareness was identified in the areas of water conservation (mean = 4.24, S.D. = .60), cleanliness practices (mean = 3.82, S.D. = .56), and food preparation (mean = 3.76, S.D. = .67), except for tree care awareness, rated at a moderate level (mean = 3.48, S.D. = .91). According to the results of the hypothesis test, the sample groups with different ages and faculty exhibited varying sustainable water usage awareness. The regularly used media did not exhibit any correlation with the level of sustainable water usage awareness. Lastly, knowledge and understanding of sustainable water usage had a weak positive correlation with awareness of sustainable water usage (r = .19).