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Full-Text Articles in Education
Environmental Education For Sustainability, Lucille Gertz
Environmental Education For Sustainability, Lucille Gertz
Educational Studies Dissertations
The climate is in crisis. Many conservation organizations identify in their mission statements the priority of motivating constituents to engage with conservation action. This priority is typically implemented by educators who design and deliver educational activities and materials. This study, designed to develop a professional pathway for environmental educators to develop programs designed to motivate adult audiences toward engagement with conservation action, addressed the question: How can environmental educators more effectively promote conservation behavior change in adult learning audiences? Three guiding research questions were: 1) To what extent are environmental educators familiar with and utilizing theoretical frameworks and research-based tools …
Leaving Kindergarten Well: First-Grade Readiness In Outdoor Waldorf Kindergartens, Garry H. Oak
Leaving Kindergarten Well: First-Grade Readiness In Outdoor Waldorf Kindergartens, Garry H. Oak
Leadership for Sustainability Education Comprehensive Papers
This article proposes an intervention to address the complex needs of children in outdoor Waldorf kindergartens. The intervention suggests integrating cultural responsiveness practices, remedial education, and outdoor teacher training competency into existing teacher training programs. By adopting this comprehensive approach, new teachers can acquire the necessary tools to meet the diverse needs of their students and adapt to the challenges of modern education. Ongoing professional development programs are also recommended to enable teachers to continuously enhance their skills throughout their careers. This multi-pronged solution aims to establish a more equitable and effective educational system that considers various dimensions of children's …
Confluence: Evaluating The Individual Learning Outcomes Of A Combined Citizen Science And Environmental Education Project, Evan A. Harms
Confluence: Evaluating The Individual Learning Outcomes Of A Combined Citizen Science And Environmental Education Project, Evan A. Harms
Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports
Citizen Science has moved beyond a methodological tool for ecologists to crowdsource data to a novel platform for environmental and informal science education. However, few studies document the individual learning outcomes of citizen science as an educational tool, particularly in youth or extension education. This quantitative study focused on evaluating the individual learning outcomes of an environmental education and citizen science non-formal learning experience about water quality.
In this study, an existing lesson plan using four sequenced activities was adapted for use with West Virginia 4-H summer camps in 2022. Potential outcome areas were first identified from foundational environmental education …
Environmental Educators’ Perceptions Of Inaugural Louisiana State Department Of Education Environmental Education Standards And Accompanying Environmental Education Endorsement Plan: A Multiple Case Study Approach, Abigail Greer
LSU Master's Theses
Increasing environmental literacy through environmental education is an integral approach to fighting many of the environmental challenges facing Louisiana. The State Department of Education in Louisiana has released two initiatives to increase environmental literacy in the state while incorporating nonformal environmental education into formalized k-12 education. The first initiative is a set of Key Principles and Concepts (KPCs) in environmental education, which is aimed at providing standards to nonformal environmental educators in Louisiana. The second initiative, the Louisiana Environmental Education Advancement Plan (LEEAP), accompanies the KPCs and provides an opportunity for nonformal environmental education organizations to achieve endorsement through partnership …
Moving Beyond Scientific Fact-Only Environmental Education In The United States, Erica Meier
Moving Beyond Scientific Fact-Only Environmental Education In The United States, Erica Meier
All Theses
There is debate regarding whether environmental education (EE) programs should focus exclusively on teaching science or on teaching and encouraging pro-environmental behaviors through civic engagement, advocacy, and action/behavior change (CEAA) techniques. To assess which CEAA techniques EE providers feel are appropriate to utilize in EE programming for youth and the extent to which they utilize them, we designed and distributed a survey to members of several North American EE organizations. Based on the North American Association for Environmental Education’s Guidelines for Excellence (2019) and input from professionals and practitioners, the survey included a list of 32 CEAA techniques. Respondents (N …
Barriers Teaching Environmental Justice Education, Jodi Devonshire
Barriers Teaching Environmental Justice Education, Jodi Devonshire
Dissertations
The idea of freedom in education has its roots in the social justice movements of the 1950s and 60s. Civil rights groups coalesced independently of other marginalized groups and movements of its time. While similar in nature, environmentalism and civil rights issues rarely crossed paths. As environmentalism made its way into science education and curriculum, social justice issues were restricted to historical perspectives in education. This research initially sought to create an understanding of purpose driven, social justice conscious, Environmental Education as it is related to marginalized learners and identify the barriers of creating and implementing culturally relevant environmental education …
Raising An Indoor Generation: Outdoor Environmental Education Impact On Adolescent Development, Daisy Elizabeth Bewley
Raising An Indoor Generation: Outdoor Environmental Education Impact On Adolescent Development, Daisy Elizabeth Bewley
Student Theses 2015-Present
In an increasingly digital world, children are growing up with less involvement and interaction with the environment. Hands-on and experiential learning is less popular in schools and a more test-oriented and numerical evaluation is increasingly popular. This thesis explores the decrease in outdoor environmental education and the impact that has on adolescent development and developmental milestones in children. This impact extends past just mental development and impacts the physical health development of children. Obesity, attention deficit disorders, and other behavioral issues are just a few of the signs of the problems that have arisen due to a decrease in environmental …
Evolving An Ecological Way Of Thinking: Social Interactions And The Construction Of Environmentally Sustainable Behaviors In Adolescents During Expeditionary Learning, Jennifer Fruend
Dissertations
The people around us - as well as the methodical progression of education through content - often shape our relationship to the world. Currently, Earth is at a crossroads, which requires humans to act and live more sustainably with an intentional environmental ethos, whether for literal survival or for slowing Earth’s resource degradation. Situated within the models of ecological contributors such as Aldo Leopold, transformational experiences, particularly when processed with self-reflection, writing, and social interaction, can change behaviors and priorities in individuals. Additionally, by recognizing the place of social learning components in expeditionary, informal, or adventure-based education settings, the potential …
Learner-Centered Nature Walks, Heather Van Der Grinten
Learner-Centered Nature Walks, Heather Van Der Grinten
Graduate Student Independent Studies
Learner-Centered Nature Walks details the research of Heather van der Grinten in supplementing Junior Ranger Walks with a learner-centered mindset. The approach was intended to reflect her personal growth as a museum educator, demonstrate the viability of the Bank Street praxis of progressive education in an environmental education setting, and highlight potential growth for future Junior Ranger lesson-planning. The methodology involved experimenting with lesson plans, keeping a detailed reflection journal, and asking for voluntary feedback from peers, supervisors, and participants from June to September 2018. The samples of student work as shown in Appendix A and B were …
A Watershed Moment: Implementing State Environmental Literacy Policy Into A Central Virginia School District, Melinda J. Vandevelder
A Watershed Moment: Implementing State Environmental Literacy Policy Into A Central Virginia School District, Melinda J. Vandevelder
Theses and Dissertations
Abstract
A WATERSHED MOMENT: IMPLEMENTING STATE ENVIRONMENTAL LITERACY POLICY INTO A CENTRAL VIRGINIA SCHOOL DISTRICT
By Melinda J. VanDevelder, Ph.D.
A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at Virginia Commonwealth University.
Virginia Commonwealth University, 2018
Director: Charol Shakeshaft, Ph.D., Professor, Department of Educational Leadership
Policy goals may be impossible to achieve at the classroom level (Ravitch, 2014), as policy depends on those who implement it (Lipsky, 1980). The purpose of this research was to investigate how the voluntary environmental educational executive order, EO42, was implemented and executed in a Central Virginia …
It's All Happening At The Zoo: Children's Environmental Learning After School, Jason A. Douglas, Cindi Katz
It's All Happening At The Zoo: Children's Environmental Learning After School, Jason A. Douglas, Cindi Katz
Publications and Research
Pairing dynamic out-of-school-time (OST) programs with zoos can encourage young people's relationships with and sense of responsibility for animals and the environment. The project presented in this article, Animal Rescuers, gave the authors the opportunity to examine how such a pairing can work. OST programs enable learning in settings that are generally unavailable during school time (Honig & McDonald, 2005). They provide space for collaboration among students, teachers, and others such as program visitors or outside educators. Taking advantage of the flexibility, location, and educational playfulness of an OST setting, the authors worked intensively with a small number of 10-12-year-old …