Scuba diver impacts on coral reefs are causing many threats to reefs. One solution is to change divers’ behaviors through on-site environmental education. The Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary developed an education program in an effort to achieve this goal. The purpose of this study was to describe the education program, understand how it affected divers’ knowledge of and value orientation toward coral reefs, and examine two teaching approaches conducted in a recreation/tourism setting. Two theories were tested in this study. Orams’ model was used to develop the “Naturalist Onboard” program and describe how the model played out in a diver education situation. The work Bransford’s team did was tested to see how their teaching approach works in a recreation/tourism setting. Evaluating this program was achieved through pre- and post-questionnaires, participant observation and semi-structured interviews. They were used in the first article to provide a description of how Orams’ model played out in the real world. In the second article they were used to determine: 1) the value orientation of the divers, 2) how much knowledge divers gained via participation in this program, 3) the relationship between value orientation and knowledge gained, and 4) the degree their value orientations affect knowledge acquisition. In the final article they were used to see how two teaching approaches affected divers’ knowledge and value orientations about coral reefs, and how the divers responded to the two approaches. The program aroused divers’ curiosity, engaged their emotions, and motivated them to minimize their impacts while visiting the coral reef. However, suggestions for making changes in their behavior at home were not received well. Most divers had a “biocentric” value orientation and gained a significant amount of knowledge. These divers were also more open to learning and changing their behaviors. There was no significant difference between the two approaches regarding the divers’ knowledge and value orientation. This may be due to validity threats. Due to time constraints and divers’ lack of interest in actively acquiring knowledge, the constructivist teaching approach did not work well in this setting.

Thesis (M.L.A.)--University of Hong Kong, 2005. / Includes special report study entitled: Vernacular village and wetland ecology.

<p> Stagnant science achievement by students, greater demands and stresses on natural resources and environmental systems, and societal disengagement from nature highlight the need for education programs to ameliorate subsequent consequences. One attempt to address science performance and environmental apathy is Youth Environmental Science (YES), an environmental education program initiated in 2011 in a rural, minority-dominated, upper elementary school in Mississippi. The program provides five consecutive days (30 hours) of experiential learning in natural sciences. During 2011-2013, I studied cognitive and affective responses of fourth and fifth grade students to YES participation using a pretest-posttest-delayed posttest design. The influence of demographic factors (race/ethnicity, gender, and economic status) on student responses was also examined. </p><p> Compared to pretest scores, posttest knowledge and attitude scores were higher for YES participants, indicating the pedagogy was effective at promoting knowledge gains and positive environmental attitudes. Higher values were associated with female, non-Black, or higher income students; however, gains in both knowledge and attitude were similar across all demographic groupings, suggesting students from diverse backgrounds benefitted equally. Year-end proficiency exams indicated natural science knowledge gained by fourth and fifth grade students during their participation in YES did not decline with time, demonstrating retention and application of content knowledge. Moreover, although Black and low income fifth grade students had lower proficiency scores, these groups showed generally increasing trends in exam performance with elapsed time. This pattern suggests experiential and intensive environmental education interventions scheduled early in the academic year may be effective for sensitizing students for classroom learning that follows later in the year. This may be particularly impactful to those students who may experience fewer science enrichment and outdoor opportunities and thereby provide a mechanism for reducing achievement gaps among demographic groups.</p>

Master of Landscape Architecture / Department of Landscape Architecture/Regional and Community Planning / Mary C. Kingery-Page / In the last 30 years there has been a shift toward educating people about conservation within zoos. Public learning about conservation of wildlife and habitats is vital if the extinction of wildlife is to be avoided. Zoos offer opportunities to educate visitors about habitat conservation through programs and activities, and the way individual habitats and zoos are being designed. Education about wildlife and habitat conservation is important, and must address scientific, aesthetic, and ecological values to be effective. When educating people about the importance of conservation of species and their habitats in zoos, it is important to create a connection between them and nature. This connection can be achieved by creating a sense of place that allows people to be inspired by nature and understand the importance of preserving it for the future. These connections have the potential to change attitudes towards nature and help people imagine wildlife and humans existing in harmony with each other. This report focuses on the redesign of the tiger and sloth bear exhibits at Sunset Zoo in Manhattan, Kansas, which offer opportunities to create exhibits that focus on animal welfare, offer educational experiences, and evoke a sense of place. In studying the role that zoos have in educating and encouraging wildlife and habitat conservation, and in creating a sense of place for the broader community, a variety of methods have been used including: literature review, precedent studies, and passive observation of zoo users. Using these methods, I determined that a successful educational programming strategy and design should include: having keepers or volunteers available to talk directly to zoo visitors, creating opportunities for visitors to form an emotional and intellectual connection to the animals and their habitats, creating an immersive experience for visitors within a naturalized exhibit, offering enrichment features for animals that encourage activity and natural behaviors that visitors can observe, and including interactive educational components for visitors. These programming elements can contribute to Sunset Zoo implementing successful strategies for education within exhibits.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Hawaii at Manoa, 2003. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 375-381).

The purpose of this study is to determine a basis on which to develop a conservation education program applicable to third grade children and to recommend a program that has been evaluated by that stated criteria.

No description available.

Strategic planning in conservation of natural protected areas should include a human component, since human activity can threaten the health of the natural site. It is the competition for the resources that makes management of these areas a contentious issue. Effective education is key in resolving such issues and in ensuring that informed decisions are made concerning the uses of these valuable natural assets. This study tests this assumption in two phases.The first phase addresses the need to present a wider picture on the current state of environmental education practices in Mexico: Who is engaging in environmental education practices? How important is it for their organization? Who are they targeting and which methods and settings are they choosing and what environmental issues are they addressing? To achieve this, we administered a survey to 118 representatives from conservation and environmental education agencies and organizations in Mexico. Results show that conservation non-governmental organizations (NGOs) are taking the lead in the field of environmental education in Mexico. Education appears to be an important tool that is used widely by environmental and conservation organizations. At the same time, there seems to be a serious lack of funding.The second phase concentrates on conservation education, a specific aspect of environmental education that focuses on biodiversity issues. This is a growing field in Mexico, thanks especially to the system of Natural Protected Areas and the supporting network of conservation NGOs. This phase of the study presented a comparative analysis of perceived roles of education in the conservation of nature, between Mexico and the US and between practitioners and funders. In this phase we also compared the prescribed parameters defined by well known frameworks from academia with those perceived by education and conservation practitioners. We used a combination of online surveying and content analysis to evaluate this issue. Results illustrate that there are similarities between Mexico and the U.S., but with key differences in the target audiences, methods and settings. Funders do not consider education one of their high priorities, while practitioners do. This discrepancy may hamper the growth and maturation of conservation education in Mexico.

The research reported in this thesis focussed on exploring existing indigenous environmental knowledge of two indigenous communities in Papua New Guinea and how this knowledge was acquired, interpreted and disseminated to the next generation. The relevance of indigenous environmental knowledge in the promotion of biodiversity conservation efforts was investigated. This research was conducted within an interpretive paradigm. A naturalistic/ethnographic methodology was used. Data was collected through semi structured interviews and observations. Participants in this case study were representatives of the community and included elders, adults, teachers and students. The findings in this study revealed indigenous environmental knowledge as useful for biodiversity conservation and promotes sustainable practices. It showed that indigenous family knowledge is essential for claiming land inheritance and indigenous environmental practices are consistent with sustainable practices and land use. Forest knowledge is found to be useful in identifying and locating resources and that sustainable practices ensured continuity of these resources. The study also identified spiritual knowledge and beliefs as fundamental for developing indigenous worldviews and environmental attitudes and values and that change in resource use may be both beneficial and harmful to biodiversity. The findings also revealed indigenous education as flexible, holistic and informal in nature and uses mostly oral history through verbal instruction and various non-verbal means. They showed that IE uses a variety of teaching and learning approaches that utilise the environment as a tool and that learning venues provide a realistic learning experience. The thesis concludes that IEK promotes biodiversity conservation in many ways and that indigenous education uses situated context to promote realistic learning. Indigenous environmental knowledge and education could therefore be used in biodiversity conservation education.

Agricultural conservation education is an important concept globally and locally. The Kenedy County Agricultural Conservation Education (ACE) Center will be established in the very rural and agriculturally-based community of Sarita, Texas, using federal funds from a Coastal Impact Assistance Program grant. The purpose of this study was to identify grantee and stakeholder perceptions of the Kenedy County ACE Center. The results identified beliefs about the Center's purpose, who its stakeholders were, possible concerns about the center, and use of the center by the 4-H program. Additionally, intentions and expectations about the Center were identified; these included operation and management, benefits, programs and activities, and others intentions and expectations. Differences between grantees' and stakeholders' perceptions were found about main focus of the ACE Center, management, and degree of concern for the center's future. This study showed that overall, grantees and participants perceive a great deal of educational benefits from the ACE Center, mainly relating to topics important to Kenedy County's livelihood, including agriculture, livestock production, wildlife management, and range management. Other major expected and intended benefits are pride for Kenedy County, ability to use a new facility in Sarita, and an increase in youth 4-H participation. This case study produced knowledge that will allow the Kenedy County ACE Center to have a clearer sense of purpose and direction and to be successful.