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Full-Text Articles in Education

Increasing Student And Educator Participation In Outdoor Classroom Spaces Through Teacher Education And Community Connection, Cora Greenawald Jul 2023

Increasing Student And Educator Participation In Outdoor Classroom Spaces Through Teacher Education And Community Connection, Cora Greenawald

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects

Place based outdoor integrated education in the general elementary setting aims to connect student learning in subjects such as reading and math to first hand schoolyard experiences. This educational practice is anchored in a wealth of research which enumerates the benefits. Yet implementation is not commonly supported within general education teacher professional development. This capstone aims to answer the question How can urban elementary educators take advantage of schoolyard resources for integrated place based learning experiences? The final product is a professional development sequence that introduces general education classroom teachers to the joys and benefits of outdoor integration through circle …

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Utilizing Behavior Change Principles To Encourage Community Engagement In Water Protection And Conservation, Chyann Erickson Jul 2023

Utilizing Behavior Change Principles To Encourage Community Engagement In Water Protection And Conservation, Chyann Erickson

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects

Integrating behavior change into water conservation efforts is a growing discipline that explores how factors of decision-making can be used to encourage pro-environmental behavior. As water issues of quality and quantity are exacerbated, it is essential to consider the potential of behavioral science as a means to revolutionize traditional approaches to water conservation education and engagement. This capstone project investigates the question: how can behavior change principles be used to engage people in efforts to protect and conserve water? By looking at cognitive foundations, internal and external factors that influence behavior, and particular interventions to encourage water conservation, research shows …

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Lgbtqia+ Inclusivity In The Outdoors, Allison Brown Jul 2023

Lgbtqia+ Inclusivity In The Outdoors, Allison Brown

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects

LGBTQIA+ individuals face barriers, inequities, and discrimination while accessing outdoor spaces and participating in outdoor education and recreation. This project focused on creating an online, asynchronous toolkit with learning activities designed for individuals and organizations within the fields of outdoor education and outdoor recreation to become aware of barriers the LGTBQIA+ community faces to accessing the outdoors and begin implementing LGBTQIA+ inclusion initiatives. The activities are intended to be completed in order, but can be adapted to best meet individual and organizational needs. Each learning activity was influenced by the research conducted for the capstone project and by examining inclusivity …

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Critical Literacy And Independent Learning Routines With Opportunity Youth, Natalie Seger Jul 2023

Critical Literacy And Independent Learning Routines With Opportunity Youth, Natalie Seger

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects

The nation’s population of opportunity youth, those aged 16–24 and disconnected from school and work, has increased since the pandemic. Many of these young people lack a high school diploma or GED. Due to past school experiences, many opportunity youth have not had the same instruction and time necessary to develop their literacy skills when compared to peers with uninterrupted education. This project addresses the research question: How can a high school equivalency curriculum based in critical literacy and independent learning strategies engage opportunity youth and empower them as self-directed learners? Building a classroom curriculum utilizing critical literacy and developing …

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Best Practices: To Supporting And Including Slife, Preliterate, Pashtu Students In Secondary, Western, Schools, Claire Madden Jul 2023

Best Practices: To Supporting And Including Slife, Preliterate, Pashtu Students In Secondary, Western, Schools, Claire Madden

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects

The research question addressed in this capstone project was: what are the best practices for supporting and including SLIFE (Students with Limited or Interrupted Formal Education), preliterate, Pashtun students in secondary, Western, schools? Topics explored in this literacy review were the challenges of SLIFE students, literacy development, multiculturalism and Pashtu culture. This paper and three part professional development series discusses methods for all secondary teachers to include and support SLIFE, preliterate, Pashtu students in Western schools. This professional development utilizes the research of Aguilar (2013). Aguilar’s (2013) work in adult education assisted in the creation of this professional development series. …

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Implementing Tpr And Tprs In The Adult Esl Classroom With Slife Learners: A Teacher’S Diary Study, Ann Gehrt Jul 2023

Implementing Tpr And Tprs In The Adult Esl Classroom With Slife Learners: A Teacher’S Diary Study, Ann Gehrt

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Theses and Dissertations

This study addresses the question: how can TPR and TPRS be used in the adult ESL classroom to teach vocabulary and reading skills? Adult ELLs with limited or interrupted formal education may struggle to learn English in traditional classrooms that rely on pre-existing literacy skills they have not yet developed, such as reading or taking notes. TPR (Total Physical Response) and TPRS (Teaching Proficiency through Reading and Storytelling) are methods of teaching language that may make use of body movements, gestures, role-play, drama and oral storytelling to make language understandable before connecting it to its written form. TPR has a …

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Metaphor Matters: Teaching Metaphoric Competence, Linda Pope Jul 2023

Metaphor Matters: Teaching Metaphoric Competence, Linda Pope

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects

Research shows that metaphoric competence is necessary for communicative competence and this paper suggests Cognitive Metaphor Theory (CMT) may be useful in teaching metaphoric competence at all levels of English. Even though causality is difficult to establish, research underscores the link between metaphoric competence and overall language proficiency. This, and the pervasiveness of metaphor in everyday and specialized English, strongly suggests a pedagogical shift towards recognizing and engaging deeply with metaphoric language. This means making room for metaphoric competence training in the ESL and legal English classroom. The project models the analyses of two diverse texts: an intermediate-level newspaper article …

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Kanwork Covid-19 Vaccine Initiative, Mazanah Muhamad, Nor Aida Maskor, Asmah Ismail, Nik Hasnaa Nik Mahmood Jun 2023

Kanwork Covid-19 Vaccine Initiative, Mazanah Muhamad, Nor Aida Maskor, Asmah Ismail, Nik Hasnaa Nik Mahmood

Adult Education Research Conference

COVID-19 triggered the need for vaccination. A mixed method inquiry revealed that KanWork Cancer Society’s vaccination initiative was successful in educating members to make informed decision to vaccinate.

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‘If They Laugh They Will Love The Learning’: Experiences Of The Use Of Humor By Adult Education Practitioners In Egypt And The United States, Mohamed Serry May 2023

‘If They Laugh They Will Love The Learning’: Experiences Of The Use Of Humor By Adult Education Practitioners In Egypt And The United States, Mohamed Serry

Masters Theses, 2020-current

This qualitative research studied the experiences of adult education practitioners from Egypt and the United States with the usage of humor. The problem was that humor is a commonly used communication and education tool, yet it is not studied enough within adult education contexts. The sample included three participants from Egypt and three from the United States. All six had adult education experiences in different contexts, including educational interventions in nonprofits, manufacturing contexts, and corporate office settings. The study aimed to determine the positive and negative results of humor on adult learners, also the practitioners' needs for a better usage …

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How Can Udl Be Used To Increase Equity And Access At An Abe Site?, Karen Cook Apr 2023

How Can Udl Be Used To Increase Equity And Access At An Abe Site?, Karen Cook

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects

Universal Design for Learning (UDL) has been shown to reduce barriers through all levels of education. Similarly, there is research showing the effectiveness of UDL to increase equity and inclusion. Given the diverse population of Adult Basic Education (ABE) and the overrepresentation of students with a learning disability, UDL makes sense as a curriculum shift. The professional development project was designed to give ABE teachers tools for implementing UDL that can be used in various classroom settings, regardless of course level or area of study, so that there can be consistency across all classes at an ABE site rather than …

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How Adult Efl Teachers Can Effectively Utilize Duolingo In Their Curriculum, Rebecca Nelson Apr 2023

How Adult Efl Teachers Can Effectively Utilize Duolingo In Their Curriculum, Rebecca Nelson

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects

The proliferation of cell phones and application technology has changed the way individuals access learning. It’s also opened up a space for profit-driven companies to be included in educational options. This project focuses on Mobile-Assisted Language Learning applications, in particular Duolingo, and how they can best be used by Language teachers, especially English teachers of adults in non-immersive environments, to use Duolingo as a supplement to their teaching. The literature shows that these applications can be helpful, but need traditional support to be most effective. The question the literature brings to mind is how teachers can best use these apps. …

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Effective Strategies For Integrating Pronunciation Instruction With A Focus On Intelligibility And Comprehensibility For Adult Esl Students, Ashley Carrel Apr 2023

Effective Strategies For Integrating Pronunciation Instruction With A Focus On Intelligibility And Comprehensibility For Adult Esl Students, Ashley Carrel

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects

The guiding question for this project was: What are some effective strategies for integrating pronunciation instruction in an adult ESL course with the focus being on intelligibility and comprehensibility? This question is guided by personal and professional experiences that are shared in the first chapter. The literature review examines the stigma of accented speech of non-native speakers and the factors that influence their pronunciation production. The intelligibility approach to pronunciation instruction has been proven to be a more realistic and ethical approach as compared to the nativeness principle. The research studied showed that adult ESL teachers often feel ill equipped …

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A Training Program That Connects Seasonal Garden Staff And Volunteers To The Mission Of Gale Woods Farm To Promote Land Stewardship Through Agriculture Education, Lindsay Bolstad Apr 2023

A Training Program That Connects Seasonal Garden Staff And Volunteers To The Mission Of Gale Woods Farm To Promote Land Stewardship Through Agriculture Education, Lindsay Bolstad

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects

An educational farm has an opportunity to support staff with the skills needed to make pro-environmental food consumption choices, such as participating in a Community Supported Agriculture program and producing food using regenerative or sustainable practices. Research concludes that best practices for a staff training program considers environmental literacy, skill-building, andragogical principles, and consistent workplace values. This capstone uses a combination of literature review and personal communication to answer the question, what are the elements and considerations of creating a training program that connects seasonal garden staff and volunteers to the mission of land stewardship through food production and agriculture …

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Animal Assisted Environmental Education Program Design: The Environmental Learning Farm, Kellie Soronen Apr 2023

Animal Assisted Environmental Education Program Design: The Environmental Learning Farm, Kellie Soronen

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects

Research has shown that by including animals in therapeutic and educational experiences progress can be made in improving the quality of our education and the quality of our lives. This project focused on filling a gap seen in Minnesota’s environmental education programs. There are many environmental learning centers in Minnesota and many different animal assisted therapy programs focusing on physical, mental and emotional health, but there is not a program that is dedicated to bringing our domesticated animals into the curriculum in environmental education. The Environmental Learning Farm is an theoretical and experimental project that could bridge the gap that …

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Transformative Learning Theory As Applied To Worship Studies, Loueda B. Bleiler Mar 2023

Transformative Learning Theory As Applied To Worship Studies, Loueda B. Bleiler

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Despite extensive research regarding the application of Transformative Learning Theory in adult education, there is very little literature promoting applying these principles and practices within Christian Worship Studies. Transformative Learning Theory is an educational theory that researches and promotes perspective-changing teaching and learning. Structured educational opportunities and spiritual development through Christian worship both have the potential to be life-altering events in human experience. In each of these dimensions of learning, the final result may include a change in perspective which then leads to modified behaviors. Transformative change occurs in the life of the learner. This qualitative research study explores the …

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Instructional Perspectives Of Ymca Fitness Instructors, Christinia M. Scott Jan 2023

Instructional Perspectives Of Ymca Fitness Instructors, Christinia M. Scott

Adult Education Research Conference

The study seeks to determine the amount of andragogical principles used by adult fitness instructors at the Greater Louisville YMCAs. The Modified Instructional Perspectives Inventory (MIPI) will measure the level of andragogical principles used by Greater Louisville YMCAs fitness instructors.

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Adult Immigrant English Learners’ Perceptions Of Their Multilingual And Multicultural Identities, Greta Mcelvain Oct 2022

Adult Immigrant English Learners’ Perceptions Of Their Multilingual And Multicultural Identities, Greta Mcelvain

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Theses and Dissertations

Adult immigrant English learners (ELs) must navigate living in a new country while also learning a new language. These immigrants are becoming both multicultural and multilingual. It has been established in prior literature that as immigrants adjust to living in a new culture with a different language, they experience both a language (Wardhaugh & Fuller, 2015) and cultural (Gibson, 2001, as cited in Schwartz, 2006, p. 2) shift. These shifts can sometimes result in immigrants losing connection to their first languages (Zhang, 2010) or their home cultures Gu and Lai (2019). Self-reflection activities have been shown to allow individuals to …

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Training English Language Teachers To Help Adult General English Students With Complex Noun Phrases For Business Writing, Christina Cipriani Oct 2022

Training English Language Teachers To Help Adult General English Students With Complex Noun Phrases For Business Writing, Christina Cipriani

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects

An overwhelming number of English Learners (ELs) are motivated to learn English because it can act as a tool to help them achieve career success. However, textbooks, which form the backbone of many General English (GE) courses, do not provide enough information in a number of areas related to success at work. Notably, few textbooks offer models for the language needed in job searching, including complex noun phrases. Since textbooks are not providing this material, teachers have to fill that gap themselves. In order to help teachers fulfill this task, my capstone project investigates the following research question: “How can …

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How To Create A Successful Learning Environment For Students With Challenging Behaviors, Kristin Otto Oct 2022

How To Create A Successful Learning Environment For Students With Challenging Behaviors, Kristin Otto

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects

As an experienced special education teacher working with a range of school districts, I have observed the need for further training on how to manage challenging behaviors within our schools. Though there are many researched based strategies available for helping educators manage challenging behaviors, there are very few trainings that guide educators to program for students with challenging behaviors. With teacher shortages at all-time high in the state of Minnesota, and schools working hard to provide inclusive classrooms, the need for further training for educators appears to be at the forefront. This project on: How to create successful learning environments …

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The Role Of The Native-Speaker Listener In English As A Lingua Franca Interactions, Leah Fruechte Oct 2022

The Role Of The Native-Speaker Listener In English As A Lingua Franca Interactions, Leah Fruechte

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects

Research agrees that monolingualism, through a lack of linguistic and metalinguistic awareness and general linguistic reflexivity, is the source of a widely observed listening problem where monolingual native-speakers (NSs) of English fail to correctly perceive the meaning of spoken English that diverges from their own in phonological forms or contextual norms. On the other hand, research has also shown multilingual communities, such as those which use English as a Lingua Franca (ELF), to display the intuitive use of collaborative, pragmatic listening strategies that keep them from misunderstanding each other, despite their differences in forms and norms. As a result, this …

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Using An Ecojustice Education Framework To Address Conservation In The Upstate, Rebecca Bolich-Wade Jul 2022

Using An Ecojustice Education Framework To Address Conservation In The Upstate, Rebecca Bolich-Wade

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects

In an era of complex and overlapping issues, it is critical to evaluate the effectiveness of alternative interdisciplinary methodology within the fields of justice and environmental conservation. One such method is encapsulated in an ecojustice education framework. This capstone project sought to analyze the effectiveness of an ecojustice education framework to address conservation in the Upstate of South Carolina. In the process of this study’s literature review, it is evident that isolating social justice from environmental conservation is ineffective and unresponsive to the needs that historically underserved communities today face in terms of the mitigation of environmental burdens and enhancement …

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How Can A Non-Personal Interpretive Guide Increase Place Attachment For Visitors, Encourage The Appropriate Development Of Sustainable Community-Based Ecotourism, And Increase Knowledge Of The Desert And Coastal Ecosystems And Migratory Whales Of Baja Mexico?, Mahin Hamilton Jul 2022

How Can A Non-Personal Interpretive Guide Increase Place Attachment For Visitors, Encourage The Appropriate Development Of Sustainable Community-Based Ecotourism, And Increase Knowledge Of The Desert And Coastal Ecosystems And Migratory Whales Of Baja Mexico?, Mahin Hamilton

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects

Small ecotour companies run whale-watching tours in remote, protected lagoons of Baja California Sur every winter, as gray whales migrate there to mate and give birth to their young. Often, tourists must drive for hours each way to reach the lagoons for their tour. When tourists get to the small villages that are the base camp for whale watching, their only guides are the boat captains, who do not normally speak English (the main language of tourists in the area). A non-personal interpretive guide would bridge the gap of information, so that tourists learn about the ecology, history, and culture …

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Facilitating The Success Of Students Transitioning Between Different Methods Of Instruction, Amanda Froberg Jul 2022

Facilitating The Success Of Students Transitioning Between Different Methods Of Instruction, Amanda Froberg

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects

The research question being addressed in this project is, how do teachers successfully facilitate the movement back and forth between different methods of instruction for students? This question is answered in the paper and then the project. The project consists of a professional development workshop that is five 120 minute sessions. The first chapter introduces the topic with discussing teaching experiences before the pandemic, COVID-19 and distance learning, and teaching experiences after the pandemic. The second chapter is the literature review that looks at defining student success (academic, social, and mental/emotional), distance learning and COVID-19, and transitions in method of …

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Social Emotional Learning: A Professional Development Series For Teachers, Danielle Plumley Jul 2022

Social Emotional Learning: A Professional Development Series For Teachers, Danielle Plumley

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects

In the past two years, we have experienced unprecedented times throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. As students were forced into distance learning, they were missing out on the opportunity to grow their social and emotional skills in person with their peers. This capstone paper and project seek to answer the question, “How can we as teachers incorporate social emotional learning on a regular basis to create meaningful progress for students?” As we return to regular in person learning, it is so important for teachers and students to focus on social and emotional learning. Although academics are what most people think of …

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A Curriculum Resource For Teachers Of Low-Level Adult English Learners: Incorporating Digital Literacy Skills, Jennifer Sorlie Jul 2022

A Curriculum Resource For Teachers Of Low-Level Adult English Learners: Incorporating Digital Literacy Skills, Jennifer Sorlie

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects

The use of technology in the workforce and in academia is ever increasing. Given the events of the past two years, more and more individuals are turning to technology as a means to help them function in today’s world. There are many individuals who arrive from other countries to the United States for various reasons. One possible reason is learning English. However, what happens when you arrive to a country that uses technology daily in a prolonged manner and you have never had this experience? This is the case for many learners who enroll in adult education programs across the …

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Family Communication And Engagement With Digital Technology: Approaches And Strategies, Simone Elias, Edward Cromarty, Linda Wilson-Jones Jun 2022

Family Communication And Engagement With Digital Technology: Approaches And Strategies, Simone Elias, Edward Cromarty, Linda Wilson-Jones

Journal of Research Initiatives

This article discusses family engagement with digital technology in inclusive education focusing on the development of caring relationships, diversity of communication skills within family and educational communities, the integration of the classroom and home, and being a media mentor to families. It reviews research related to family engagement with media technology and seeks to provide a flexible guide which may be adapted to diverse environments to assist in developing technology-infused family engagement and communication strategies. The educational practices discussed consider the importance of the family in the technology hybridized classroom and consider socioeconomic, cultural, linguistic, and human diversity as factors …

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Leveling The Playing Field: A Proposal For A Portfolio Summative Assessment For A Task- Based Adult Esl Course To Address The Needs Of Students With Limited Or Interrupted Formal Education (Slife), Joshua Eick Apr 2022

Leveling The Playing Field: A Proposal For A Portfolio Summative Assessment For A Task- Based Adult Esl Course To Address The Needs Of Students With Limited Or Interrupted Formal Education (Slife), Joshua Eick

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects

Research shows that students with limited or interrupted education (SLIFE) are at a distinct disadvantage when taking formalized exams as compared to their more highly educated peers due to factors such as cultural dissonance. The need for an alternative method of summative assessment that rewards SLIFE’s strengths, such as funds of knowledge and collaboration skills, instead of punishing them for their lack of test-tasking skills and background knowledge is the central focus of this project. This project is a proposal for an adult school district to pilot a portfolio summative assessment as an alternative to formalized testing. The rationale for …

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Key Aspects Needed For Creating A Successful Esl Program In The Workplace, Dianne Sandeen Apr 2022

Key Aspects Needed For Creating A Successful Esl Program In The Workplace, Dianne Sandeen

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects

Businesses that employ low-skilled workers are looking for ways to increase retention, workplace engagement, and communication. However, many of their employees lack English skills. Workplace ESL education programs have been shown to increase employee satisfaction, engagement, and retention, but few businesses understand how to implement a workplace ESL program. This capstone project uses a professional development workshop to help businesses and educators understand how to implement a successful workplace ESL education program. It examines labor-exchange theory, human capital theory, and the theory of sense of community to understand how businesses can influence employee satisfaction, engagement, and retention by implementing a …

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Teaching Pragmatic Suprasegmentals In The Adult Esl Classroom, Jordan Wooldridge Apr 2022

Teaching Pragmatic Suprasegmentals In The Adult Esl Classroom, Jordan Wooldridge

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects

While many ESL teachers acknowledge that there is more to learning English than understanding letter sounds, grammar, and vocabulary, suprasegmental work still gets relatively little attention in most classrooms. The curriculum designed to address this need looks at how to create effective and engaging material in order to teach pragmatic suprasegmental features in the adult ESL classroom. It is designed to be delivered in 10-15 minute bi-weekly “mini-lessons” that draw on what students already know and incorporate visual, auditory, and kinesthetic components to engage all learning preferences. Drawing on the work of Celce-Murcia et al., (2010) the suprasegmental features that …

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How Can Environmental Based Library Programming Benefit Communities?, Samantha Morrison Apr 2022

How Can Environmental Based Library Programming Benefit Communities?, Samantha Morrison

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects

As technology advances, and cities and population grow, there is a higher need for environmental education. Outdoor education provides many benefits in many different ways. Libraries offer free services to everyone in the community and provide the perfect opportunity to give everyone a chance to learn about the environment. This project focuses on enhancing library programming through nature based learning, asking the question How can communities benefit from environmental education focused library programming? Research shows that there are many different benefits to environmental education and exposure to nature. The literature reviews discusses how outdoor learning is good on mental and …

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