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SIH3001

RESEARCH PROJECT

RESEARCH PROPOSAL:

AWARENESS OF STUDENTS IN

UNIVERSITI MALAYA ON ENERGY SAVING

Name : Kang Siew Lien

Matric No. : U2004664

Supervisor : Dr. Adi Ainurzaman Bin Jamaludin

AWARENESS OF STUDENTS IN UNIVERSITI MALAYA ON ENERGY SAVING
Kang Siew Lien

U2004664

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The following research proposal was done in accordance with the need to save
energy which is one of the natural resources of the earth to protect our environment.
Energy is the ability to do work. It is required to do every single thing in our daily life. For
example, energy is needed for us to type on keyboard to finish our assignment. Without
energy, we may not be able to finish our work on time and may lead to procrastination.

As stated in Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), goal number 7 is to ensure

access to affordable, reliable, sustainable, and modern energy. Some poorer countries do
not have access to adequate and clean energy especially electricity to do their everyday
work. Hence, countries that have enough access to electricity should do their best to save
energy so that everyone can feel the joy brought by having access to electricity.

Universities and other educational institutions are thought of having an important

role to save the world’s energy. Therefore, the purpose of this research is to determine the
awareness level of Universiti Malaya (UM) students on energy saving based on their level of
knowledge, attitude, and practice. This can help to determine what can be done by related
authorities to raise awareness on energy saving among universities students.

A random distribution of questionnaires will be done among UM students and the

data collected will be further analyzed. 60% of UM students are expected to demonstrate a
high level of awareness on energy saving. They are expected to have adequate knowledge,
good attitude, and high practice level on energy saving. Apart from that, the students
should have a good perception on renewable energy which will be a big help in saving
energy.
RESEARCH BACKGROUND

Energy is something that cannot absent in our life. It is very essential to the extent
that we cannot do anything if we live our life without it. Activities such as brainstorming
some ideas to perform a good presentation, eating chicken chop by using knife and fork,
drinking water from a cup, switching on light to brighten our room, driving car on the road,
and pressing remote control to watch our favorite show on television, it is impossible to do
these activities without energy. Energy is like our family, it is always around us at anytime
and anywhere, yet we cannot see it exist around us by using our naked eyes. To make every
action in our life possible, we will need to consume and utilize energy (Woodford, 2006).

There are two types of energy sources which are renewable energy sources and
non-renewable energy sources. As for renewable energy sources, they consist of biomass,
wind, hydroelectric, solar, and geothermal. This type of energy sources is known as clean
energy that will not replenish with time. As for non-renewable energy sources, they consist
of petroleum, natural gas, coal, and nuclear electric power. This type of energy sources is
known as dirty energy which is very limited and will replenish with time (Shinn, 2022).
Saving non-renewable energy sources by converting to the usage of renewable energy
sources will help to reduce the impacts of greenhouse gases especially carbon dioxide
(CO₂) that contributes the most to global climate change.

From above, we know that it is very important for us to save all kinds of energy as
much as possible to conserve the natural resources of the earth for our generation and the
future generation. Khan, et al. (2020) had done a research project to measure the
awareness level of Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) students on energy saving. Survey
results shown that the students have a very high level of awareness on energy saving for
the sake of our precious environment. A research project is being designed in this study to
compare the awareness level of UM students and UTM students on energy saving.

This study thus aims to answer the following research questions:

1. What is the level of knowledge, attitude, and practice of UM students on energy

saving?
2. What are the perceptions of UM students on renewable energy which is beneficial in
energy saving?
3. What are actions that can be taken by responsible parties raise the awareness level
of UM students on energy saving?
LITERATURE REVIEW

This review aims to explain the background information of energy, the definition of
awareness, and the similar studies done among young generation.

Background

According to The NEED Project (2018), energy sources can be classified into two
types: renewable energy sources and non-renewable energy sources. Renewable energy
sources are sources of energy that will not be depleted and can be generated again in a
short period of time. Non-renewable energy sources are sources of energy that will be
depleted after they are utilized completely and cannot be generated again in a short time.
Both types of energy sources are known as primary energy sources whereas electricity is
known as secondary energy source.

Reports by U.S. EIA (2022) shown that most of the energy sources that were
consumed in 2021 are non-renewable energy sources that were consumed 87% while
renewable energy sources were only consumed 12%. One of the most consumed non-
renewable energy sources was petroleum which is 36% followed by natural gas 32%, coal
11%, and nuclear electric power 8%. From 12% of renewable energy sources consumed,
biomass was consumed the most which is 40% followed by wind 27%, hydroelectric 19%,
solar 12%, and geothermal 2%.

As mentioned by TLV (2022), fossil fuels which include petroleum, natural gas, and
coal that are also categorized under non-renewable energy sources are being extracted
excessively nowadays. This will lead to a drastic depletion of those energy in 50 to 100
years in the future. Therefore, there is a need for every one of us that are living on the earth
to save these energies by using them in a smart way so that we can save our environment
and conserve some energy for our future generations.

Definition of Awareness

According to a research project done by Gafoor (2012), awareness is defined as

having knowledge about certain things. It is about understanding, having conscious, and
being attentive on things that are happening around us. We can gain awareness on
something by observing and learning those related knowledge in our surrounding
environment. This can be done without anyone teaching us directly if we alert about
everything around us.

An article written by Yaure (1973) also shares same opinion with previous
researcher (Gafoor, 2022) that we have mentioned above which stated that awareness is
about possessing knowledge related to specific matters. By having this knowledge, it will
determine what will be our behavior to deal with those matters. To gain awareness on
something, we must have a good understanding and adequate knowledge regarding that
specific things which will lead us to have a good and reasonable behavior in treating those
things.

As mentioned by Carden, et al. (2022), awareness can be seen of having different

layers. Whenever a person is facing a specific situation, there will be many things going on
in their mind and their body. The person can be considered as conscious if he or she can
process everything that happens in their mind and body which is also known as having
awareness. In contrast, the person is considered as unconscious if he or she is not aware of
things that are happening in their mind and body.

Similar Study

According to a research project done by Zhao, et al. (2019), the results of their
research from a survey among university students in Macau shown that most of the
students are having a high level of awareness regarding energy saving to protect the
environment. When they were asked about is there a need to save energy, almost all
students which is 96.61% of them think that it is essential for them to conserve energy so
that we can save our environment. Meanwhile, only a small portion of students which is
3.39% think that it is not necessary for them to save energy as they need to use energy
every day to do anything in their daily life.

Based on a report done by Khan, et al. (2020), a survey was done among UTM
students. Results of energy saving awareness assessment shown that most of the students
have a high level of awareness on energy saving. Most of the students think that it is very
important to save energy as 4.623 was recorded as a mean. This means that they have a
very high level of awareness when we refer to mean range interpretation for Likert-Scale.
They acknowledge that they can save the environment by saving energy. This statement is
proven when 4.425 was recorded as a mean where the students agreed that our natural
resources are very precious and an act of saving energy may also save those resources.

In a research paper written by Zerinou, et al. (2020), a survey has been done
among primary school students in Orestiada. In the context of their daily habits, a mean
rank of 10.48 was recorded using Friedman test for an action of preventing the lights to
turn on continuously by turning off the lights when they are not in a room. All their
answers and mean rank that were recorded in this survey clearly shown that most of the
primary school students have a very high level of awareness regarding energy saving.
RESEARCH AIM, PURPOSE, AND OBJECTIVES

The research aim is to determine the awareness level of UM students on energy

saving. The level of the awareness can be beneficial in deciding actions to be taken to instill
more energy saving awareness in the students.

To achieve the aim of the research, 3 objectives were decided which are listed as below:

1. To measure the level of knowledge, attitude, and practice of UM students on energy

saving.
2. To examine the perceptions of UM students on renewable energy which is beneficial
in energy saving.
3. To suggest actions that can be taken by responsible parties raise the awareness level
of UM students on energy saving.

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

In this study, survey method will be used to achieve research objectives to

investigate the level of awareness of UM students on energy saving. Questions for
questionnaires will be designed and completed questionnaires will be collected for further
data analysis.

This questionnaire will have questions which include binary choice questions, rating
scale questions, and multiple-choice questions. It will be divided into sections including
demographic survey, knowledge level on energy saving, attitude level on energy saving,
practice level on energy saving, and perceptions on renewable energy. It is decided to
distribute questionnaires for data collection as this method is quick, cheap, and efficient to
collect data from a huge sample of people. The number of undergraduate and postgraduate
students in UM for session of 2022/2023 is 30568. We are targeted to obtain a total of 380
responses from students of different faculties in UM. The size of respondent is calculated
based on the Raosoft with 95% of confidence level and 5% of margin error.

EXPECTED RESEARCH OUTPUTS

It is expected that 60% of UM students will be able to demonstrate a high level of

awareness on energy saving. The respondents should be able to explain terms and concepts
related to energy saving. Besides, they should have a good attitude to save energy. The
practice level on energy saving in their daily lifestyle should be high. Regarding renewable
energy, the students should have a good perception that it is useful in saving energy. Some
related parties are expected to take some wise action to increase the awareness level of the
students in UM.
RESEARCH SCHEDULE

Flow Chart

Figure 1: Flow chart of research planning and execution

Gantt Chart

Table 1: Gantt chart of research planning and execution (Semester 1)

Activity Week

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14

Decide on a
research
question.

Do a literature
review on the
topic “Energy
Saving”.

Decide on the
methodology
for data
collection.

Plan research
budget.

Write the
research
proposal.

Issues about
funding.

Come out with

questions to be
asked in
questionnaires.

Distribute the
questionnaires
to collect
opinions from
respondents.

Do data
analysis on the
data collected.

Table 2: Gantt chart of research planning and execution (Semester 2)

Activity Week

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14

Do some
evidence-
based practice.

Write a report
on the
research.

Disseminate
the research.

Present the
research.
RESEARCH COSTING DETAILS

Table 3: Budget Estimation

No. Item/Description Amount (RM)

1. Materials and Supplies:

1. Buying A4 papers 20.00

2. Printing 10.00

3. Stationeries 20.00

2. Transportation:

1. Car petrol 300.00

2. Bus 10.00

3. Others:

1. Miscellaneous 40.00

Total 400.00

A total budget of RM 400.00 overall is estimated to be needed throughout the research. It is

just a rough estimation of the budget needed based on the items’ current market price.
CONCLUSION

In conclusion, energy is something that we need at anytime and anywhere to do

anything in our daily life. Without energy, there is nothing that we can do in our life.
Therefore, it is important for us to save and conserve energy as much as possible to
prevent energy from depleted so that it is available for our future generations. Awareness
on energy saving should be instilled in every individual before any actions can be taken. By
having a high awareness level, everyone can start having good small habits in their daily
life to save energy. Government and non-governments organizations should cooperate to
organize programs to raise the awareness of universities students on energy saving. Other
than those organizations, university plays a crucial role to raise their students’ awareness
through lecture syllabus, club activities, college events and more.

This proposed research hopes to offer an insight on the awareness level of UM

students on energy saving depend on their knowledge level, attitude level, and practice
level, while making recommendations for strategies to increase their level of awareness to
a higher level. A survey method is used for a comprehensive analysis of this study. The
findings will be useful in developing earth sustainability frameworks. As a result, additional
study is needed to develop more effective strategies to increase the awareness level of
universities students.
REFERENCES

Carden, J., Jones, R. J., & Passmore, J. (2022). Defining self-awareness in the context of adult
development: A systematic literature review. Journal of Management Education,
46(1), 140-177. doi:10.1177/1052562921990065

Gafoor, K. A. (2012). Considerations in the measurement of awareness. Retrieved from

https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED545374.pdf

Khan, M., a Haris, A. S., Rahim, M., Mat Salim, M. A., Harun, M., Jamaluddin, M. h., . . . Nor, N.
(2020). Energy saving awareness among UTM students.
doi:10.2991/assehr.k.200921.005

Shinn, L. (2022). Renewable energy: The clean facts. Retrieved from

https://www.nrdc.org/stories/renewable-energy-clean-facts

The NEED Project. (2018). Introduction to energy. Retrieved from

https://www.need.org/Files/curriculum/infobook/IntroS.pdf

TLV. (2022). Why save energy? Retrieved from https://www.tlv.com/global/TI/steam-

theory/energy-saving.html

U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA). (2022). U.S. energy facts explained.
Retrieved from https://www.eia.gov/energyexplained/us-energy-facts/

Woodford, C. (2006, 2021). Energy. Retrieved from

https://www.explainthatstuff.com/energy.html

Yaure, M. K. (1973). The concept of awareness. Journal of Thought, 8(4), 259-269. Retrieved
from http://www.jstor.org/stable/42588381

Zerinou, I., Karasmanaki, E., Ioannou, K., Andrea, V., & Tsantopoulos, G. (2020). Energy
saving: Views and attitudes among primary school students and their parents.
Sustainability, 12(15), 6206. Retrieved from https://www.mdpi.com/2071-
1050/12/15/6206

Zhao, S., Song, Q., & Wang, C. (2019). Characterizing the energy-saving behaviors, attitudes
and awareness of university students in Macau. Sustainability, 11(22), 6341.
Retrieved from https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/11/22/6341