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Image of environmentalists in a stream.Image of a goose.Image of environmentalists studying specimens in a lab.

Research

 

NKU:
[
EE Needs Assessment of K-12 Teachers - Spring 2000 ]
[
Aquatic Ecology for Teachers 2002] [Aquatic Ecology for Teachers 2005 MANOVA and ANOVA results ] | [Delayed-Post Course Questionnaire Analysis Summary] | [
Reading the River 2001 Program]  [ Reading the River 2002-2003 Program : Powerpoint Slides
Means, F-test, and t-values for Pre-Post, and Long-Term Post Program Questionnaire Items]
[ Reading the River 2003 - 2004 Program : Program Questionnaire Measures of the Pre, Post, and Long-term Post Likert Responses ; Strengths of Program ]
[
Reading the River 2004 - 2005 Program: Program Questionnaire Measures of the Pre, Post, and Long-term Post Likert Responses ; Mean Likert Responses ; Open Ended Evaluation Items , Participant Interviews | Reading the River 2006 - 2007 Program: Classroom Practices - Program Questionnaire Measures of the Pre and Long-Term Post Likert Response | Confidence Level of Teachers - Program Questionnaire Measures of the Pre and Long-Term Post Likert Response ]

Other:
The 2004 Survey of Kentuckian's Environmental Knowledge, Attitudes & Behaviors
(132 PDF)

Australian Research Institute in Education for Sustainability (ARIES)
http://www.pr.mq.edu.au/events/index.asp?ItemID=1566
ARIES is the first national institute devoted to the research of education for sustainability and will undertake a range of research projects aimed at better understanding methods of motivating and engaging organizations, governments, communities, and individuals into making changes for environmental sustainability.

Children's Health Issues: http://www.eqc.ky.gov
Children's Environmental Health in Kentucky, October 2004 Report (PDF 4.22 MB)
Birth Defects and the Environment (PDF 753 KB)

Effects of Environment-Based Education on Students' Achievement Motivation
Athman J. and Monroe, M. (2004).  The effects of environment-based education students' achievement motivation.  Journal of Interpretation Research, 9(1), 9-25.

Effects of Environment-Based Education On Student's Critical Thinking Skills and Disposition Toward Critical Thinking
Ernst, J. and Monroe, M. (2004).  The effects of environment-based education on students' critical thinking skills and disposition toward critical thinking.  Environmental Education Research, 10(4), 507-522.

Environmental Education Training and Partnership (EETAP) Study:
Environmental Education Liaison with State Capacity Building (PDF 327 KB)

Environmental Education Works
: http://www.TheEEWorks.org
Data, studies, and case examples of how environmental education has a measurable impact on environmental protection and improved student learning include better results on standard tests.  The EE-Works is a service of the National Environmental Education and Training Foundation (NEETF).

Gallup Poll on the Environment (2005): http://www.pollingreport.com/enviro.htm

Incorporating Environmental Content:
An Online Survey of K-12 Teachers in Kentucky Concerning Current Education Practices and Preferences for Education Resources, Findings and Descriptive Statistics
(PDF 131KB)
 
Landscape and Human Health Laboratory, The:
http://www.lhhl.uiuc.edu
A multidisciplinary research laboratory dedicated to studying the connection between greenery and human health, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER).  Research and publications on environmental education can be found at http://www.nfer.ac.uk/research/env.asp.

  • National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER)
    A Review of Research on Outdoor Learning (PDF 76.5 KB)

  • Grounds for Improvement:  Secondary Action Research Programme.  Final Report.  Learning through Landscapes (PDF 1.44 MB)
    The findings of a 3-year NFER/LTL research project into: (1) How can secondary schools engage their students in school grounds improvement?  (2) What are the impacts of school ground projects on students and schools?

[http://www.responsivemanagement.com]
A website addressing attitudes and opinions related to natural resources.  Responsive Management is an internationally recognized public opinion and attitude survey research firm specializing in natural resource and outdoor recreation issues.  Their mission is to help natural resource and outdoor recreation agencies and organizations better understand and work with their constituents, customers, and the public.

[
Human-Environment Research Laboratory - University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign ]
A multidisciplinary research laboratory dedicated to studying the relationships between people and the environments they inhabit.

[
KEQC 2002 Online Public Opinion Poll on the Environment ]

[
State Education & Environmental Roundtable ]
The EIC ModelTM using the Environment as an Integrating Context for improving student learning.
The EIC ModelTM interconnects "best practices" in education into an instructional tapestry that improves student achievement by using local natural and community surroundings as a context for learning.

New National Environmental Education & Training Foundation (NEETF)  Environmental Literacy Research Draft Available: http://www.neetf.org/roper/ELR.pdf
Kevin Coyle of NEETF has developed a (draft) research paper on the state of environmental knowledge in America.  It recaps ten years of NEETF/Roper data and examines how environmental education increases environmental stewardship.  More than 300 studies were used in find that EE helps to clean up the environment while providing excellence learning experiences for young and old alike.



K-12 Teachers Environmental Education Needs Assessment

[ What Teachers Are Currently Doing ]  |  [ Type of Training Desired ]
[
Level of Need for EE Services and Opportunities ]  | [ Level of Need for EE Training ]
[
Focus Group Methods and Results ] | [ Entire Document (.pdf) ]

What Teachers Are Currently Doing  The results presented in TABLE 1 indicate that an overwhelming majority of teachers are teaching about the environment and environmental issues.  There are, however, some who are not.  Almost half of the teachers reported having guest speakers, taking field trips, and involving students in action projects.  Thirty-one percent of the teachers teach in an outdoor setting, and 22% have student environmental clubs.


TABLE I:  Percentage of Teachers Presently Doing Various EE Activities

91%

 

Teach about environmental issues

89%

 

Teach about the environment

47%

 

Have guest speakers/programs

44%

 

Take environmental field trips

42%

 

Involve students in action projects

31%

Teach in an outdoor setting

22%

 

Have student environmental clubs

 

Type of Training Desired   As shown in Table II, the greatest percentage of teachers indicated they would like to see training offered as in-services during the school year.  While 49% of the teachers reported wanting summer workshops, only 24% indicated they would like training offered through university courses for credit.  Taking weekend workshops was the least popular choice, with only 20% selecting this type of offering.


TABLE II:  Training Teachers Would Like to See Offered

60%

 

Teacher in-service during school year

49%

 

Summer workshops

24%

 

University courses for credit

20%

 

Weekend workshops

 


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Last updated: October 31, 2008