Science literacy and digital literacy as predictors of plant awareness: The mediating role of self-regulated learning among biology students

Plant awareness is an essential component of biology and sustainability education, yet it remains relatively underdeveloped because plants are often overlooked in both formal learning contexts and everyday life. This study aimed to examine the relationships among science literacy, digital literacy, self-regulated learning, and plant awareness among 513 active biology students from higher education institutions in Eastern Indonesia. A quantitative cross-sectional survey design was employed. Data were collected through an online questionnaire administered via Google Forms and distributed through WhatsApp, and were analyzed using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling. The findings showed that science literacy and digital literacy were positively associated with self-regulated learning and plant awareness. Self-regulated learning was also positively associated with plant awareness and served as a partial mediator in the relationships between both forms of literacy and plant awareness. The mediation model provided a stronger conceptual explanation of how literacy resources are translated into plant awareness, although the direct-effects model showed slightly better predictive accuracy. These findings imply that efforts to strengthen plant awareness should not rely only on biology content delivery, but should also integrate science literacy, digital literacy, and self-regulated learning into contextual learning activities, campus-based plant conservation programs, and higher education policies that support digital, reflective, and sustainability-oriented biology learning.