No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

This project inserviced teachers for grades fourth through sixth on water conservation activities that they could implement with their students. Project Wet (Water Education for Teachers) was used as the basis for the workshops. All selected activities correlated with the California State Content Standards.

This project is designed for junior high school teachers who wish to initiate environmental issues-based education in Taiwan. It addresses the current education at junior high schools and important environmental issues in Taiwan, presenting instructional strategies for teaching controversial environmental issues. The appendix of the project is an original design for a systematic environmental issues curriculum, including student-centered and teacher-centered activities that could be integrated into curricula on related subjects. Lessons include the environmental awareness, ethics, skills for analyzing issues, research skills, debate practice, negotiation practice, and projects.

The Namibian curriculum is premised on the view that there is a need for a holistic development and preparation of learners for a knowledge-based society. The draft National Environmental Education policy, the basic education policy and curriculum development processes in Namibia devolved the power and responsibility to implement environmental learning practice to schools. This research focus on the extent to which schools coordinate environmental education (EE) activities, educators’ perception of their environment, knowledge of EE processes, assessment approaches, the out-door activities, learning support materials, community involvement and EE school policy issues. Wickenburg (2000:56) affirms that “for substantial learning to take place, stakeholders should work actively and establish local supportive structures for EE in Schools”. Educators are expected to deal with practical issues which create opportunities for learners to develop environmentally responsive knowledge, skills and attitudes. The research design is a mixed methods research approach, which includes aspects of the quantitative and qualitative approach. The methodology involved data collection methods such as interviews with educators and a local EE officer, focus group discussions with learners and a self-assessment questionnaire for educators. The data was then analysed and interpreted in relation to a set of theoretical perspectives. The research concluded that educators have knowledge of factual information about environmental learning topics such as population, biodiversity and environmental degradation. Educators have the comprehension of indigenous knowledge and continuously assess learners. Educators however, seldom communicated the way people’s cultural activities affect the environment and did not value cultural practice and indigenous knowledge. Many educators did not use the local environments to do practical activities with learners. Schools did not have EE school policy, rarely practised outdoor activities and local communities are not involved school EE activities. Learners are knowledgeable of their local environmental issues. Based on the finding of the research I came up with a list of recommendations to guide the process of implementation of environmental learning at schools. / Environmental Education / (M. Ed. (Environmental Education))

Environmental service-learning is an intentional educational experience(s) wherein learners engage in meaningful activities designed to serve the environment. Environmental service-learning activities vary according to their learning and service goals and include ecomanagement, persuasion, legal action, economic action and political action. The purpose of this mixed methods research was to explore the ecological and educational impacts of grades 6-12 environmental education, with special attention to environmental service-learning throughout Portland, Oregon. Ecological impacts considered restoration and conservation outcomes of several environmental service-learning programs including plant communities, soils, litter removal and trail maintenance. Educational outcomes considered aspects of environmental literacy including locus of control, environmental sensitivity, indicated environmentally responsible behaviors, investigating environmental issues and knowledge of physical systems. The relative influence of some significant life experiences on youths' response to environmental education, including environmental service-learning, was also considered. Telephone surveys were used to gather data from 22 Portland metropolitan area environmental education programs. Data included 2014 annual biophysical impacts (e.g., area of invasive species removed, pounds of litter removed) and information on programming (e.g., length of program, % time outside). Eleven programs administered a 33-question environmental literacy assessment to participants of their programs (n=393). The assessment included the New Environmental Paradigm, the Inclusion of Nature in Self, questions from Environmental Identity Scale and self-constructed questions. One 8th grade program was identified for a detailed case study. In this 8th grade programs, slight variations in educational activities occurred among three treatment groups which varied the amount of time youth spent engaged in ecomanagement. Youth from the three treatment groups and a control group were administered the environmental literacy assessment at the beginning and end of the program. Qualitative data for the youth in the treatment groups were gathered to further consider how environmental literacy was impacted by participation in the program. Stronger associational correlations to environmental literacy occurred for the percentage of time an environmental education program spent outdoors rather than the percentage of time an environmental education program engaged in environmental service-learning (e.g., "With other people, I can work to make a positive impact on the environment." rho: .276 vs. "I have the skills necessary to make a positive impact on the environment" rho: .176). Random forests indicated that environmental education program features and some significant life experiences could predict collapsed environmental literacy variables (locus of control, environmental sensitivity and environmentally responsible behaviors). 22.4% of the variance in a collapsed environmental sensitivity variable was explained by nine predictor variables; those variables with the strongest influence were youth response to "Before this program, how frequently did you spend time in the outdoors," age and the presence of a positive adult role model who cares for the environment. Youth participating in environmental education programs showed higher environmental literacy than control groups (e.g., "I feel an important part of my life would be missing if I couldn't get out and enjoy nature from time to time" U: 3642.500, p: 0.025). Youth with significant formative life experiences (e.g., those indicating previous environmental education or a positive adult role model that cares for the environment) responded better (higher environmental literacy) to environmental education than those youth without ("I pay special attention to things outdoors" chi 10.633, p: 0.031). This research provides insight on the efficacy of environmental service-learning. Environmental service-learning positively affected environmental literacy, but outdoor environmental education was more effective in terms of environmental literacy. Results corroborate the body of literature regarding significant life experiences. Further, results suggest that significant life experiences are a critical development milestone necessary for youth to respond to environmental education on a developmental trajectory to empowered environmentally literate citizens.

The investigation used the Ecological Footprint as an educational tool to assist Environmental Management and Water Care learners at Technikon Northern Gauteng, Soshanguve learners in gaining insight in their consumption of natural renewable and non-renewable resources and generation of wastes. In addition, it also aimed to assist them in understanding the ecological impacts of their behavior on the available international and national productive land and thus on planet earth. The results of the investigation indicated a significant decrease in the post-test questionnaire knowledge, attitude, and behaviour scores of the learner group. The implication however was clear; the Ecological Footprint did not directly have an effect on the attitude and behaviour of the learners but indirectly influenced the knowledge base of the learners, which then should have an impact on their attitude and behaviour over time. The Ecological Footprint could thus be an educational tool that could be incorporated into the curricula of the two academic programs at TNG, viz Water Care and Environmental Management for increasing knowledge and improving the attitude and behaviour of learners towards a more sustainable lifestyle. / Educational Studies / M.Ed.(Environmental Education)

The social and environmental challenges of the coming decades will require that individuals possess environmental literacy: the understanding of natural systems combined with a sense of care for the earth, and the confidence and competency to act on its behalf. At the same time, disengaged youth need education environments that foster belonging and promote affective outcomes. The youth conservation corps model provides a natural context for engaging academically at-risk youth in environmental science education, while fostering connection to nature and student self-efficacy in ways that are experiential, relevant, and relationship-based. The focus of this study was a conservation corps program that integrates habitat restoration fieldwork and environmental science curriculum. The participants of this study were eight high school seniors who participated in the program for credit toward their high school diplomas. Data were collected through both quantitative and qualitative measures. Students completed a pre-test to assess their understanding and application of conceptual knowledge in ecosystem relationships and biodiversity. Upon completion of a six-week curriculum, they completed a post-test assessing knowledge in the same areas, two retrospective pre-post surveys measuring connection to nature and self-efficacy, and a post-evaluation measuring affective outcomes. Individual interviews were conducted in order to provide further insights and to identify elements of the program that contributed to positive outcomes. Results showed statistically significant increases in all outcome areas as well as positive student evaluation of affective outcomes. The outdoor and experiential components of the program were found to contribute most significantly to the positive outcomes.