All posts by Jessie

Research Example #4: “Quantifying the Presence of Written Materials and the Use of Outside Texts in Nature Centers for Environmental Education”

The article “Quantifying the Presence of Written Materials and the Use of Outside Texts in Nature Centers for Environmental Education” was published in the Journal of Applied Environmental Education & Communication in September 2013. As its title suggests, the study and surrounding literature encompassed in the article focus on the availability of text books and written materials in environmental education. This is particularly interesting to me because many environmental education programs that focus on outdoor education tend to focus more on experiential education rather than using texts.
In this well-conducted study, researchers from Duke University sent questionnaires to representatives of more than 1800 nature centers nationwide. The survey asked questions about various aspects of the nature center programs, including those pertaining to location, setting, audience and goals of the nature center. The analysis focuses more on what kind of written materials are available, as well as how often outside texts are cited in those materials.
There was a thirty-one percent response rate for the questionnaires, meaning 563 individual responses were sent in to be evaluated. There were representatives from each state, leaving researchers with the following demographic: 17% from the Northeast, 34% from the Midwest, 34% from the South and 16% from the West.
The survey results concluded that 91% of nature centers carry brochures, 88% carried handouts, 85% carried books and 82% had permanent information displays. An analysis of variance concluded that region and setting (urban to rural) had to affect on what kind of resources each nature center possessed. 66% of those surveyed reported that outside sources were cited, referenced or quoted in the materials provided.
In conclusion, most nature centers provide some kind of written material for visitors, although a large amount of them (34%) do not reference, cite or quote outside materials. My personal theory is that providing some kind of textual material may help nature centers, and outdoor educators in general, reach out to a broader audience by catering to those with different learning styles. I believe it is imperative to incorporate as many outlets for learning as possible, as every person has a different preference for how to learn.

Present, Absent, or Tardy? A Study of the Barriers, Bridges, and Beliefs Concerning Environmental Education Among a Cohort of Sixth Grade Teachers in Nova Scotia- Journal Exercise #3

The article opens up by introducing Environmental Education as a subject. It explains the perceived importance of environmental education and the influence of a teacher’s environmental views on their students’ learning.
This article follows a cohort of sixth grade teachers in Nova Scotia who instruct environmental education. The teachers discuss their views on environmental education and its challenges. They are evaluated through interviews and a thematic analysis test. The sample size was significantly smaller than intended, however the goal of the study was to gain insight to relevant, consistent and transferrable issues that come with teaching environmental education, regardless of study population or grade level. The interviews with teachers were transcribed verbatim and analyzed using a thematic analysis approach.
The analysis made apparent four themes: key challenges to teaching environmental education, how environmental education is integrated into the curriculum, professional and personal environmental education values, and general understanding of environmental education.
Key challenges in teaching environmental education fell into categories of resources, time, outcome, other, knowledge and finances, in the order of perceived relevance. Having insufficient resources was the biggest obstacle for these teachers by far.
As far as integrating environmental education into the curriculum, teachers tended to agree that it should begin as early as kindergarten (which supports a good deal of literature regarding the subject) as well as integrated with other studies such as social science and social science.
The study exemplified that the teachers held high-ranked values of the importance of the environment and educating children properly regarding the world around them.
The study surprisingly found that there was a weak general understanding of environmental education among the teachers. When asked to describe it, the teachers mainly emphasized recycling, which is a very small, over-traditionalized part of environmentalism.
This article poses many relevant questions: Does this point to the idea of specialized teacher trainings on the environment? How can more money be garnered for more environmental education resources? Is it time for education reform regarding environmental curriculum? It is clear that if this study in any way mirrors modern-day teachers, change for environmental education is definitely in order.
Online link to article:
http://0-ejournals.ebsco.com.books.redlands.edu/Direct.asp?AccessToken=7DRTDT3B3ODFMMMNTI5NNRX5XLRLB3L9JN&Show=Object

Proposal Example

This sample grant proposal was created by Kurzweil Education Systems as a guide for non-profits looking to obtain funding. It is a very thorough document that encloses a Cover Letter and Cover Page in addition to the Grant Proposal itself. One of the most pleasing things about the proposal (besides its thoroughness) is that it is divided up into sections, which I plan to utilize for my project.

(Page 1) The cover letter serves to introduce the organization, the amount requested and what the organization intends to do with the money. It serves as an introduction to engage the reader, as well as giving the basic information so that the reader knows immediately what and who the money would be going to.

(Page 2) The cover page then says the name of the organization, thorough contact information of the requestor, and date submitted. It gives the proposal a professional look and helps to spread out some of the information that would have otherwise been included in the cover letter or grant proposal.

(Pages 3-5) The proposal is then split up into sections:

Project Abstract: Provides a brief description of the organization and the specific project that the money would be going to.

Statement of need: Explains exactly why and what the money is needed for.

Program Description: Provides a more in-depth description of the program that requires money,

Description of Assistive technology: Describes the technology the grant would be helping pay for and why it is necessary for the program.

Goals & Objectives: Explains the “big picture” goals that the project aims to accomplish and why they are important

Timeline: Gives a month-by-month estimate from when the organization is notified of the (hopeful) grant until the project is completed.

Thorough Budget: An exact chart breakdown of what funds will be allocated where.

Evaluation: An explanation of how effectiveness of the project/ accomplishment of goals will be tested

Appendix: Any relevant supporting literature, supporting statements from those a part of the program, etc.

LINK TO DOCUMENT: https://www.kurzweiledu.com/files/proof_resources_grant1.pdf

Research Example #6

A fair amount of literature exists in support of environmental education. The typical types of articles I have found have generally focused on the fact that people, youth especially, have a lot to gain from environmental education. Many studies aim to answer the question “What should we be teaching people in order for them to see the importance of being environmentally responsible?” or “What is the most effective way to convey this information? Outdoors? With books? With charts?” Perhaps one of the most overlooked parts of education is not what we teach and should teach students, but rather how we should empower them to act and put their education to practical use.

The article “Factors in Helping Educate About Energy Conservation” centers around this issue. Their specific research question is “What are the attitudes and motivations that students have toward energy use and conservation?” The study collected results at three different times: 1995, 2002 and 2003. Researchers wanted to analyze motivation and attitudes toward energy conservation between the three data collection times and determine any broad changes between the three. Participants took surveys which were analyzed by researches using the Likert Scale (meaning the scale ranged from ‘strongly agree’ to ‘strongly disagree’), or participated in simple short-answer interviews which asked the same questions. Factor analysis and behavior analysis were then used to quantify the results.

Some of the main takeaways were the popular attitudes that: nature is important, yet we still need to uphold a functioning society and that many people feel a lack of empowerment to create solutions.

Unfortunately, the surveys and interviews concluded that having a positive environmental attitude does not always translate into action, in all three study years. The general consensus was that people often can only be environmentally conscious to a degree before having to disconnect themselves from modern society. This leaves us with a new question: how do we train our next and current generations of scientists to feel empowered enough to create new solutions for our energy crisis.

Research Example #5- “Content Evaluation of an Environmental Science Field Trip”

This study was done by Doug Knapp and Elizabeth Barrie and was published in the Journal of Science Education and Technology in 2001. This article focuses on two important takeaways of environmental education: awareness of environmental issues and knowledge of natural processes.
The article opens with literature including a 1994 report that over 20 million students visit science education centers each year, and that the number of these facilities has doubled since 1978. It then continues on to say that there is extensive research done to show that many are positively impacted by field trip experiences in their youth- drawn to either furthering their scientific education or having a more positive environmental attitude.
Researchers set forth to ask the question of what exactly made the difference for participants in environmental field expeditions. Specifically, they focused on the effect that two different field trips had on the environmental views of students. A diverse group of 500 urban fourth, fifth and sixth grade students were taken to a science center in Indiana in 1997 and 1998- one in the fall and one in the spring.
The students were taught lessons, as well as asked to hike around a lake while paying attention to various environmental factors of the ecosystem. One group was specifically issue-oriented and the other was ecology-oriented. They were then given a series of 15 multiple-choice questions to test their behavior intent, knowledge and attitude both before and after the field excursions. Data was then analyzed using ANOVA. The data analysis concluded that there was a significant increase in knowledge as a result of the field trips, however there was no significant difference between the ecology-based and the issue-based trips.
What does this conclude for the field of environmental education? Simply put, it does not seem to matter what students learn about environmental education, as long as they are outside and actively engaged.

Research Example #2: “An Empirical Test of Self-Determination Theory as a Guide to Fostering Environmental Motivation”

The title of the article “An empirical test of self-determination theory as a guide to fostering environmental motivation” by Rebekka Darner is rather self-explanatory. This study focuses on exemplifying what leads children in classrooms to be motivated to protect the environment. It builds off of a concept called Self-Determination Theory, or SDT, which is used to predict the likelihood that a person will carry out a certain behavior, even when unprompted. According to the theory, each human behavior stems from one of five main types of motivation: (1) amotivation (no specific catalyst toward behavior), (2) external regulation (behavior to obtain a reward or avoid punishment), (3) introjected regulation (behavior linked to self-esteem, e.g. to avoid shame or guilt), (4) identified regulation (behaviors one wishes to integrate into their identity, but has not yet done so) and (5)  intrinsic regulation (behaving simply for the pleasure of the behavior).

Typically, environmental educators attempt to trigger an integration of these different types of motivation, so that students feel accountable to act environmentally responsible unconditionally because they are willing to, even when it is not pleasurable.

In the study, two different post-secondary environmental biology classes were observed at a community college in San Diego. One was a course with an average environmental biology curriculum, and the other was the same class, but guided by SDT theory principles. Part of the SDT theory focuses on the need for the three social needs to be met: autonomy, competence and relatedness.

Following the end of this course, all students were given at 24-question questionnaire called the MTES psychological instrument, which measures motivation toward pro-environmental behaviors. Although the total sample size was extremely small (at only 27 students, all from varying backgrounds), the results showed that there was a significant difference in the amotivation section: those with the SDT-guided course scored much higher in this subject category.

Despite the low sample size, this study is interesting because it is the first of its kind. The main lesson from this article? People are people first, and students second. This method of thinking could change the way that environmental education is taught both inside and outside the classroom. My theory is that part of the reason why outdoor education can be so successful is that most outdoor educators are trained to focus on providing a psychologically safe space for their participants.

 

Link to Article:

http://0-web.a.ebscohost.com.books.redlands.edu/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=3&sid=a3070488-1460-4be6-940a-c22ddd94d43d%40sessionmgr4001&hid=4214

Research Example #1: “Motivating the Skeptical and Unconcerned: Considering Values, Worldviews and Norms When Planning Messages Encouraging Energy Conservation and Efficiency Behaviors”

The article “Motivating the Skeptical and Unconcerned: Considering Values, Worldviews and Norms When Planning Messages Encouraging Energy Conservation and Efficiency Behaviors” was written by Laura M. Arpan, Andrew R. Opel and Jia Lu and published in the Journal of Applied Environmental Education and Communication in 2013.

This article tackles a few of the most common question in Environmental Education: Do conservatives have more self-enhancing reasons behind their conservation efforts? How does one target those who are skeptic about conservation and encourage them to live sustainably? And how do different worldviews play into motivation toward a green lifestyle?

Researchers started out by using software which aided in gathering a group of 409 college-educated citizens with diverse personalities in order to serve as an accurate representation of the United States. The group was given a 41-question internet survey to complete, which was based around energy consumption. Each question was put into a category, which pertained either to: Efficiency Behaviors (their energy use and intentions behind it), Political Orientation (Democrat, Independent or Republican), Perceived Risk/Problem Awareness (ex: “Do you think global warming is happening?” and “Do you think the U.S. is experiencing an energy crisis?”), Descriptive norms (“Do others around you try to conserve energy?”) and Motivational variables (reasons why they did or did not conserve energy).

The results showed that there was no association between political party and recent behavior and that descriptive norms and personal moral norms were weakly correlated with recent behavior.  An interesting find was that both liberals and conservatives make efforts to decrease energy consumption mainly for financial reasons.

Essentially, this study goes to show that the most effective way to encourage energy consumption is not through campaigns to protect the environment, but rather through financial motivation, or popularization of the financial benefits of energy conservation.

Journal Entry #2: “Current State of Environmental Education in Mexico: A Study on Practices, Audiences, Settings and Topics”

The journal article “Current State of Environmental Education in Mexico: A Study on Practices, Audiences, Settings, and Topics” by Jose Marcos-Igaa & William Shaw was featured in the Journal of Applied Environmental Education & Communication in 2011. The article focuses on studies done in Mexico regarding environmental education.

To my surprise, environmental education is not a new topic in Mexico. Although it has been widely suggested, environmental education is not implemented in school curriculum, due to teachers feeling spread thin by the current teaching load, thus being reluctant to add new curriculum. The question stands then: Who is teaching environmental education in Mexico?

An internet survey called “The Conservation Educators’ and Practitioners’ Perceptions of Conservation Education” survey was constructed by the Environmental Education Council of the Californias and sent to various environmental education organizations and conservation practitioners. Questions asked on the survey centered on how organizations were involved with environmental education, the specific focuses of the organization and the amount of resources dedicated to such programming.

There was a 22% response to this survey, meaning that only 118 out of the 538 surveys sent were returned. 58% (68 total) of the surveys returned were from NGOs (Non-Governmental Organizations), 31% (37 total) were from higher education centers or universities, and 17% (20 total) were in conjunction with the local, state, or federal Mexican government. The last 2% were from recreational centers, museums, aquariums, or zoos.

When asked about the direct aim of their organization, 25% selected conservation of nature, 23% selected research and 22% selected education. Although these numbers are close in comparison, nature conservation came out on top as the main focus.

Surprisingly, 38% of respondents reported that they dedicate one tenth or less of their funding to environmental education.

Due to low survey response, this sample size is arguably not large enough to represent a random response. Despite these unfortunate circumstances, a wobbly conclusion may be made that most of the environmental education taught in Mexico is done by NGOs, is centered on conservation and is lacking funding. Further research is definitely warranted for this topic.

 

This article can be found at (http://0-www.tandfonline.com.books.redlands.edu/doi/full/10.1080/1533015X.2011.669687#.Uvf9lWI7uM4)

Journal Entry #1

In the journal article “Fostering ‘Connectedness to Nature’ through U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Education and Outreach Programming: A Qualitative Evaluation” by Stefan Theimer and Julie Ernst, the relationship between youth and outdoor education is examined. In this study, a comparison is made between students from three separate USFWS environmental education programs. The research questions examined were “Do the participants perceive that their program is influencing their connectedness to nature?” and “If so, what aspect of the program do they associate with influencing their connectedness to nature?”  In this study, “connection to nature” was defined as evidence of ‘emotional connection or affinity to the natural world’.

The first program (named “Program 1”) is a club consisting of 5th grade students from the pacific region which meets every two weeks. The program focuses on activities such as biology, fishing, knot-tying, teambuilding and orienteering. The only outdoor activity in Program 1 is orienteering.

“Program 2” is an alternative high school program in the pacific region, made of high school students who struggle to succeed in a normal school setting. The school takes place on a fish hatchery complex, with hatchery staff mentoring the students through many relevant lessons and activities. The students receive both outdoor and indoor instruction from teachers, and have frequent access to natural areas around the facility.

“Program 3” is a field-based middle school program, located on a USFWS waterfowl production area. Certain classes of 4th and 5th grade students spend half of their school days at the site. The program lends students a hands-on learning experience, including duck banding, water sampling, long-distance expedition excursions, free-writing regarding their environmental studies, various outdoor pursuits, and repeated quiet observation activities.

Researches collected data by having volunteer participants participate in focus group interviews. Questions asked were focused around 9 different themes regarding nature: comfort, emotion, exploration, knowledge, observation, stewardship, wildlife curiosity, wildlife sensitivity and wildlife sharing. Results suggested that students from Program 3 scored significantly higher in each category.

This research could show a simple indication for the future of outdoor and environmental education: When teaching natural systems, outdoor exposure and hands-on learning is essential to forming a connection with nature.