The study subjects were 9 high schools in 3 regencies in Central Java Province, totaling 241 students.

The sample was determined based on the purposive sampling technique, meeting the research criteria, that is, the family background of students who lived in the central area of the city who all had similar attributes in terms of cultural and environmental recognition.

Purposive sampling was used based on the distance between the schools and the city or regency center: Wonosobo Regency (Area 1), Boyolali Regency (Area 2), and Temanggung Regency (Area 3), divided into three categories (city, middle, and village). The selection of the district area as the research location was based on the fulfillment of Javanese culture that was relevant to the research theme. Sample size based on the number of classes taken randomly. This selection was based on cultural backgrounds and emerging ethno-SSI issues within the community. The study sample consisted of 9 high schools: Area 1: SMA-C1 (city), SMA-M1 (middle), SMA-V1 (village); Area 2: SMA-C2 (city), SMA-M2 (middle), SMA-V2 (village); Area 3: SMA-C3 (city), SMA-M3 (middle), SMA-V3 (village).

SMA-C1 is the first school located in the city at a distance of 1-5 km from the district center of Wonosobo Regency.

SMA-M1 is the first school located in Madya at a distance of 6-15 km from the district center of Wonosobo Regency.

SMA-V1 is the first school located in a village at a distance of more than 15 km from the district center of Wonosobo Regency.

For schools in other districts, the same thing applies. ²³

The inclusion requirements of this study were as follows. 1)

Male and female students who are actively registered as students at 9 high schools in 3 regencies in Central Java Province Indonesia.

Figure 1 at the development stage (part of DBR design), trials are carried out using experimental methods with a pre-test/post-test control group design (see Table 1). ²³

The Fischer standardized Environmental Awareness (EA) test consisted of 8 essay questions, and the EA questionnaire consisted of 36 items. Observations of the Ethno-SSI reconstruction of Javanese culture and structured interviews were conducted with cultural experts, teachers, and students. The data collection instruments were structured based on the fulfillment of the indicators adapted from Fischer: Care (EA1), Curiosity (EA2), Criticality (EA3), Dependability (EA4), Responsibility (EA5), and Local Wisdom (EA6). ²³

Data collection was carried out over a period of one semester (May to October 2025). EA Instruments and Measurement Scales at the link: https://forms.gle/iRr4LvPzQ44MNyMT6 (Wonosobo Regency), https://forms.gle/iNbWYMjnfQcsWYjw8 (Boyolali Regency), https://forms.gle/udCz7SgV5PyfRKf27 (Temanggung Regency).

The analysis was based on qualitative data in the form of observations of the Ethno-SSI reconstruction of Javanese culture and structured interviews, which were analyzed descriptively. Quantitative data, in the form of EA test results and EA questionnaires, were analyzed. Prerequisite tests for normality and homogeneity were followed by t-tests and Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) to test the effectiveness of the Ethno-SSI model in strengthening students’ EA. Data interpretation was used to make recommendations for local wisdom-based education policies.

To address data bias, researchers selected samples from various school backgrounds to anticipate similar responses. Furthermore, the environmental awareness test was descriptive, allowing for differences in each response. However, researchers had already identified the variable indicators used in the study.

The Higher Education, Science, and Technology Indonesia Republic for the Regular Fundamental Research on May 28, 2025 (letter number 127/C3/DT.05.00/PL/2025 and 027/LL6/PL/AL.04/2025) is the institution that has approved and provided funding for this research.

This research was also approved by the Institute for Research, Publishing, and Community Service of the Universitas Sains Al-Quran (UNSIQ), Wonosobo, Central Java, Indonesia granted permission for this research on July 1, 2025 (letter number 120/LP3M-UNSIQ/VII/2025).

Written informed consent to participate was obtained from all participants (students, teachers, and the principal). If teacher consent was not obtained, the student was not permitted to participate. Respondents provided consent without coercion from anyone. All data collected will be kept confidential to protect the rights and privacy of respondents.

Consent to participate in the study was obtained based on the Statement from the Committee on the Use of Human Subjects as Experimental Subjects (COUHES) at https://couhes.mit.edu/informed-consent .

This statement provides detailed and clear information regarding: 1)

Title and theme of the study

Because the participants have voluntarily agreed to be research subjects, they are fully aware and without coercion. This statement is made truthfully and without pressure from any party.

Consent is based on https://www.csusm.edu/research/compliance/irb/consent.html about Informed Consent and Assent Process and Forms (ICAPF). This consent is based on information that must still be obtained from the subject’s parents or guardians, because this study is aimed at high school students aged 15-17 years.

Parental consent was obtained by distributing a research consent form with the seven criteria above. If informed consent was approved, the form was signed by the student’s parents.

The characteristics of the Ethno-SSI Model, which carries the theme “Javanese Culture,” are a solution to social issues based on local wisdom, a form of appreciation for the local richness of Central Java Province, and have the potential for adoption in other regions. The model’s characteristics include meaningful learning syntax, an environmentally oriented social system, the principle of student and teacher responsiveness, and the impact of strengthening EA in preserving cultural heritage in Central Java Province.

The importance of the Javanese Ethno-SSI Cultural Model in mapping students’ EA profiles as an indicator of the achievement of the community development index at high school age, and supporting Indonesia’s Asta Cita. The low environmental awareness of high school students is a particular concern, challenging the preparation of Indonesia’s golden generation for 2045. The results of the Ethno-SSI reconstruction in three districts include: the Dreadlock Traditional Ritual, the Tiban Market Tradition, and the Wiwit Mbako Traditional Ritual.

Social issues that develop in the Dieng Plateau are located in two districts, namely Wonosobo and Banjarnegara, Central Java Province, which not only holds beauty, but also the mystery of the dreadlocked boy who appears every time. The dreadlocked boy is said to be the incarnation of Kyai Kolodete and Nini Roro Ronce. The dreadlocks appear with a sign that the child is experiencing a fever, so that the child’s dreadlocks can be cut, a Ruwatan must be performed, and a hair-cutting ritual must be followed. The cutting of the child’s dreadlocks is carried out using water taken from Sendang Sedayu, located in the corner of the Dharmasala complex. After leaving Dharmasala, the child is carried by his parents into the Arjuna Temple. The temple complex has prepared a place for the dreadlock-cutting procession. The procession is led by the Dieng traditional leader, Mbah Sumanto, before having their hair cut, the children have requested something that must be realized during the haircut, and are informed of the public about each child’s request.

The ceremony begins with the chanting of the Dandanggula macapat song, followed by the cutting of the child’s dreadlocks. The traditional elder, Mbah Sumanto, initiates the shaving. The cut hair is placed in a jar. The hair is then floated down a river that flows to the Indian Ocean. Telaga Warna is typically the location for the floating.

Dreadlocks grow in children aged one to five years. The initial appearance of dreadlocks is usually accompanied by symptoms such as a high fever, and some even experience convulsions. It is said that the child can recover from the fever after the dreadlocks have finished growing. An ethnoscientific explanation and its integration with physics concepts are presented in Table 2.

The Ruwatan Rambut Gimbal tradition is closely linked to local beliefs and the mythology of the Dieng people. ^{24, 25} The cutting process, or ruwatan, is carried out through a sacred ceremony involving traditional leaders, families, and the surrounding community. This tradition reflects local wisdom that combines elements of spirituality, respect for nature, and traditional social structures.

The Ruwatan Rambut Gimbal ceremony in Wonosobo not only contains spiritual and social values but is also imbued with valuable ecological messages to foster environmental awareness among the younger generation. In each stage, this tradition demonstrates how local communities respect nature, maintain its balance, and use natural resources wisely and measurably. This aligns with modern scientific principles of efficiency, conservation, and sustainable environmental management.

One concrete example of environmental awareness is the use of water from seven natural springs as a means of purification during the ritual. Water is not taken in large quantities haphazardly, but is measured traditionally using local, environmentally friendly containers, such as clay jugs. This is an example of the application of volume measurement in a simple yet sustainable manner. In the context of physics, this teaches the importance of efficient and moderate volume measurement, while also teaching students about water conservation.

The offerings, such as flowers, leaves, and food, used in the ceremony also demonstrate the principle of utilizing local, biodegradable resources and not producing inorganic waste. There is no plastic, Styrofoam, or other synthetic materials. The community uses natural measuring instruments, such as banana leaves as bases, bamboo segments as water containers, or handfuls of food. This demonstrates how local culture has long embraced concepts now recognized in modern science as environmentally friendly and ecologically based.

One of the social issues developing in Boyolali Regency, Central Java Province, is the Tiban Market, a traditional market selling food and souvenirs typical of the Selo people. This market is held when groups of guests visit and purchase village tourism packages. The tourism experience offered is a combination of typical Selo snacks and cultural arts attractions ( Table 3). This is complemented by the beautiful views of Mount Merapi. The uniqueness of this market is not only the commodities sold; transactions also use tokens in the form of coins. These coins are made from coconut shells and are worth Rp 2,000. To entertain visitors who shop and eat snacks, children from the studio perform traditional dances and warm the village atmosphere. All vendors are free of charge to the Pokdarwis (tourism group). Profit sharing occurs when sellers exchange the coconut shell coins they collect from buyers with the Pokdarwis management.

The use of coconut shell coins as evidence of waste utilization for financial transactions at the tiban market demonstrates community awareness of coconut waste utilization. The EA indicator is a form of responsibility, where students can respond to the problem of accumulating waste or waste that has a market value in the community. One example is the creation of briquettes from coconut shell waste. Briquettes are organic biomass that can produce specific energy as fuel. Energy transformation can be studied through scientific concepts, so students indirectly learn about cultural traditions and science simultaneously.

The social issue that is developing in the Temanggung Regency community is “Wiwit mbako,” which is a traditional community ritual that marks the start of the tobacco harvest. This ritual is an expression of gratitude for the expected good and blessed harvest, while preserving local wisdom ( Table 4). There are cultural values in the implementation of the Wiwit mbako tradition, namely spiritual values, vital values, and formal values. These values can be identified from the elements of the implementation of the Wiwit tobacco tradition, namely umbarape, determining the day of implementation and the rituals carried out. The implementation of the Wiwit tobacco tradition has gone through three stages of cultural strategy, namely the mystical stage, the ontological stage, and the functional stage. The mythical realm of thought is seen in the belief in Ki Ageng Makukuhan and Dewi Sri, the ontological realm of thought is reflected in the change in implementation from initially individual to group, and the functional realm of thought is seen in its function as cultural tourism. Profit sharing occurs when sellers exchange the coconut shell coins they collect from buyers with the Pokdarwis manager, as presented in Table 4.

Based on in-depth interviews, it was revealed that in the past, people always used auspicious days, established by their predecessors, to determine the date for the Wiwitan tradition, which is a large event according to the Javanese calendar. However, those who still practice the Wiwitan tradition no longer adhere to the days considered auspicious by their predecessors. This is due to a shift in the community’s mindset, which considers all days auspicious. Furthermore, the Mranggen Tengah Village community held the Sadranan ceremony, which was not held on Wednesday Pahing but on Friday Legi.

The EA indicator focuses on students’ understanding of natural conditions during tobacco planting and harvesting. Students can learn about weather changes due to global warming. Students can learn about the appropriate weather conditions for planting tobacco for a bountiful harvest. Furthermore, the tools used to harvest tobacco utilize simple machines, such as sickles, lawn mowers, and other tools. Students can understand the types of simple machines used in tobacco planting and harvesting.

The participant demographics consisted of 9 high schools in 3 different districts. The total number of students was 241 (SMA-C1, N = 33; SMA-M1, N = 27; SMA-V1, N = 30; SMA-C2, N = 23; SMA-M2, N = 25; SMA-V2, N = 22; SMA-C3, N = 27; SMA-M3, N = 29; and SMA-V3, N = 25). The number of male students was 102, and female students was 139. Based on the school background, there are 83 students in the city category, 81 students in the middle category of high school and 77 students in the village category of high school. the entire data in the research trial to respond to the EA instrument. Next, after the data is collected, statistical test analysis is carried out.

Normality and homogeneity test

The normality test for Environmental Awareness (EA) of students in each high school group in Area 1: SMA-C1 (city), SMA-M1 (medium), SMA-V1 (village). Area 2: SMA-C2 (city), SMA-M2 (medium), SMA-V2 (village). Area 3: SMA-C3 (city), SMA-M3 (medium), SMA-V3 (village) using the Kolmogorov test with Lilliefors correction ²⁶ is presented in Table 5. The normality test for EA for each high school group is as follows ( Table 5): 1.

High School Group 1 City (SMA-C1) L-value is 0.114 with p-value 0.200 > 0.05, then accept H0, which means that the EA of Students in High School Group 1 City (SMA-C1) is normally distributed.

Because most high school groups showed normally distributed Student EA values, it is highly likely that the residuals are normally distributed, thus meeting the assumption of normality. If this is not met, bootstrapping is performed to ensure consistent parameter estimates despite violations of normality.

The homogeneity of variance for Student EA between groups was tested using the Levene test, as presented in Table 6.

The homogeneity test for Student EA shows a p-value of 0.215 > 0.05, thus accepting H0, which means that the variances for Student EA between groups are not significantly different, also known as homogeneous. Therefore, the assumption of homogeneity is met. If this is not met, the post hoc test will use the Games-Howell test. Alternatively, non-parametric tests such as Kruskal-Wallis and Mann-Whitney will be used. The normality test for Student EA in each group will be tested using the Normal QQ and Detrended QQ PLOT graphs: 1.

Normal QQ: If the plot follows the diagonal line, it is normally distributed. Otherwise, it is not normally distributed.

There are 9 high school groups, based on Table 7. The descriptive test of student EA per high school group shows that the highest mean student EA is in the Village 2 High School Group (SMA-V2), at 85.0068. Meanwhile, the lowest is in the Village 3 High School Group (SMA-V3), at 75.5648. Furthermore, to determine whether the difference in student EA is significant, an ANOVA test is used, as presented in Table 8.

Based on the student EA, using a one-way ANOVA test, the effect of the high school group on student EA is 0.004 < 0.05, thus accepting H1, meaning the high school group significantly influences student EA, as presented in Table 9. Furthermore, the student EA for the one-way ANOVA test is presented in Table 10, showing the output of the one-way ANOVA analysis. Several studies need to be conducted to determine whether there is a significant influence or difference between the high school groups on student EA. The following is an explanation of each output of the One-Way ANOVA analysis, including: 1.

Corrected Model: The effect of all independent variables (High School Group) together on the dependent variable (Student EA). If Sig.) <0.05 (Alpha) = Significant. Table 10 shows Student EA. Sig. 0.000 < 0.05 means the model is valid and the data is significant.

The parameter estimate (B) for the SMA Group of the ANOVA equation model is presented in Table 11. Where Ŷ is the predicted student EA. For example, for the SMA Group in the SMA Group, the predicted Student EA is Ŷ1 = 75,565 + 7,222X = 82.787. The 95% confidence interval shows that the parameter estimate for the SMA Group of City 1 (SMA-C1) is between 2,345 and 12,099, where this parameter is significant because the p value is 0.004 < 0.05, or accept H1. Meanwhile, the 95% confidence interval for [SMA Group = 9.00] is not calculated because in this ANOVA equation, the reference used is SMA Group 9 ( Table 12). The abundance of the Tukey test above shows that: 1.

The difference in the high school group between SMA Kota 1 (SMA-C1) and SMA Madya 1 (SMA-M1) is 6.60 with a p-value of 0.144 > 0.05, thus accepting H0, meaning there is no significant difference between the two.

Furthermore, the average EA profile plots are shown in the values in the same subset; there is no difference, while the values in different subsets mean there is a difference. Figure 2 shows the difference in the average EA of students between high school groups. Where the SMA Village 2 (SMA-V2) group is the highest, and the lowest is SMA Village 3 (SMA-V3), based on the ANOVA test, shows that this difference is meaningful or significant (accept H1), which is presented in Figure 2.

Based on Figure 2, it shows the average and standard deviation of each data group: For region category 1 (Wonosobo Regency) it consists of C1 = 82.79 and 8.67; M1 = 76.18 and 6.52; V1 = 79.37 and 5.86. Area 2 (Boyolali Regency) it consists of C2 = 79,92 and 7,27; M2 = 81,11 and 9,87; V2 = 85,01 and 8,52. Area 3 (Temanggung Regency) it consists of C3 = 79,61 and 12,88; M3 = 83,33 and 9,74; V3 = 75,56 and 12,45. The total average is 80.34 and the standard deviation of the entire data group is 9.63.

Statistical tests show a significant influence of the Javanese Ethno-SSI Model in strengthening high school students’ EA. The model’s contribution provides an influential contribution by considering the estimated prediction parameters in the ANOVA test. ²⁷

The limitations in describing science reconstruction based on the need for relevance of science materials with different indicators of students’ environmental awareness. It is essential to investigate the factors that influence students’ environmental awareness. It is necessary to study the suitability of environmental awareness determinants in more detail about the learning sources of traditions and surrounding cultures. Ethno-SSI studies are very diverse so they will determine different ways of learning reconstruction. Each study will be different depending on the researcher’s perception in explaining science reconstruction, but with these limitations, it can be used as a reference for how to develop environmental awareness of high school students for meaningful and sustainable learning in maintaining traditions and culture as a form of the existence of the golden generation of Indonesia.