The goal of environmental education (EE) has always been to increase knowledge about the environment and to foster positive environmental attitudes. Increasingly, as the call for integrating EE programs into mainstream science curriculum intensifies, it is important to continue to evaluate the effectiveness of these programs not only through measures of change in knowledge and attitudes, but through the additional criteria of meeting the needs of different gender and ethnic groups. The purpose of this research was to identify whether a watershed education program was meeting the needs of diverse learners within the context of a year-long, integrated, sixth-grade science curriculum. This study specifically sought to answer the following questions: 1) Do differences exist between genders and ethnic groups in regards to change in environmental knowledge after participation in an environmental education program? and 2) Do differences exist between genders and ethnic groups in regards to changes in environmental attitudes after participation in an environmental education program? A mixed-methods approach consisting of a pre/post-test survey, interviews, and observational data was used to evaluate these questions. The quantitative results of the survey data suggests that, overall, students had statistically significant (p < 0.01) gains in environmental knowledge, but no change in attitude towards the environment after participation in the program. When subpopulations are broken down into gender and ethnic groups, however, there is statistically significant support for the idea that ethnic groups--and, to a lesser extent, gender groups--were affected differently by the program. One important finding was that Hispanic and Native American students had significantly less gain in knowledge than their White, Asian and African-American peers. Qualitative interviews and observations shed light on these findings and illustrate the experiences of students during the year-long program. Other findings, trends, observations, and opportunities for future research are also discussed.

The main objective of this study was to establish a universally functional evaluation process for environmental education (EE) materials that can increase appropriate educational program application and resultant efficacy among users of all skill levels and disciplines, specifically those wildlife-related. Additionally, this research investigated capability of an EE program to alter preconceived high school student attitudes and knowledge toward urban white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) across varying demographics. I evaluated systematically a pre-produced urban wildlife classroom program, Living with White-tailed Deer (LWWTD), and measured student understanding of associated deer issues pre- and post-program. Using a detailed framework based upon the Guidelines for Excellence outlined by North American Association for Environmental Education (NAAEE), I created an instrument to identify EE programs indicative of high merit. During the 2007-2009 school years, trained classroom educators (n = 72) from 13 states were recruited to participate with their students (n = 1,274) in the 3-5 day LWWTD program and asked to critically assess it using my evaluation instrument. Teachers also administered attitude and knowledge assessments to their students. Teacher opinion toward the program was found to be highly favorable ( = 3.4/4) and was confirmed by significant increases in student knowledge before and after the program (P < .001). Regional differences in teacher response were found, but did not affect student performance. Teachers indicated that the Guidelines for Excellence are a meaningful tool in developing evaluative measures. Weak program components such as applicability to differing cultures were isolated using the evaluation instrument while strong components such as instructional soundness were highlighted. Pre- and postprogram student responses were correlated to demographic variables and differed significantly among races, gender, and urban or rural residency. Student experiences revealed also differences in attitude and knowledge of varying constructs relating to urban deer issues. An increase in knowledge following the LWWTD program was found across all demographic and experience variables suggesting high effectiveness regarding learning. Student attitudes following the LWWTD program showed an increased acceptability of lethal deer management techniques regardless of demographics, experience, or pre-program beliefs. These results suggest that effective EE can transcend predetermined beliefs.

Master of Landscape Architecture / Department of Landscape Architecture/Regional and Community Planning / Mary C. Kingery-Page / School environments of today’s urban children are generally inflexible, restricting and uninspiring places for learning and exploration that are disconnected from their surrounding community and nature. Facilities and teaching methods do not keep pace with the evolving needs of the workforce and varying child learning styles (Stanbury 2009). Organized sports, limited free time and standardized testing steal the zest out of childhood discovery once felt by children who grew up with a connection to their surroundings, especially nature. Many adverse effects are seen as a result. “Nature-deficit disorder describes the human costs of alienation from nature, among them: diminished use of the senses, attention difficulties and higher rates of physical and emotional illnesses,” (Louv 2008, 36). Children are left to face the world’s escalating environmental dilemmas with hindered social and cognitive skills, diseases related to association and disassociation from nature and an impaired relationship with their extended community. Programs like University Colorado Denver’s Learning Landscapes and California’s Collaborative for High Performance Schools (CHPS) and have individually worked to improve learning facilities, reconnect students with outdoor curriculum-based learning and establish a bond with their communities. But implemented designs reveal unmet potential, calling for advancement and further evolution of the school learning environment. MontClair Elementary in Oakland, California is a typical urban school with paved schoolyard, restricted boundary, weak link between curriculum and schoolyard, disconnect from the community and disassociation from nature. New CHPS verified facilities are being implemented on their existing campus to accommodate an increase in student population but the link between schoolyard and curriculum has only been minimally addressed in the proposed design. Integrating Learning Landscapes with the Collaborative for High Performance Schools to create a hybrid learning landscape framework will reconnect MontClair Elementary with the surrounding community and nature. Advancement of the CHPS program, through adaptation of their existing scorecard, will allow Hybrid Learning Landscape Framework to be quantitatively applied to MontClair Elementary.

Modern Western Culture (MWC) is based in a materialist and mechanistic ontology that has marginalized spiritual relationality with the natural world. Awe of the Earth once maintained respectful relations between humans and Nature, where shared community existence was a primary concern. Through the rise of the MWC, reverence for the spirit of the Earth has gradually been lost and has altered the way humans situate themselves in the world. Many claim that as the divide between humans and Nature grows, significant barriers to thoughtful and sustainable ways of living have emerged, and reconnecting, or healing this divide is essential in the movement toward environmental sustainability. To address this divide, this research uses the reflective and iterative processes of action research together with feminist post-structural analysis to examine barriers to human-Nature relations at a spiritual level. It explores dominant discourses that act on middle years students and determine what is possible for student-Nature relations in a public school setting. The dominant discourses are embedded in three main themes: role of the city, social acceptance, and technology. Discourses within each theme have been deconstructed, identifying how they are reproduced or disrupted, the implications of adopting the discourses, and how alternatives may be encouraged in school to support spiritual relations with Nature. This research takes a small step toward broadening the possibilities of how people relate with Nature by including spiritual relations with Nature, and begins to erode a clearly identified barrier to achieving sustainability.

published_or_final_version / Environmental Management / Master / Master of Science in Environmental Management

published_or_final_version / Environmental Management / Master / Master of Science in Environmental Management

published_or_final_version / Environmental Management / Master / Master of Science in Environmental Management

published_or_final_version / Environmental Management / Master / Master of Science in Environmental Management

published_or_final_version / Environmental Management / Master / Master of Science in Environmental Management

published_or_final_version / Environmental Management / Master / Master of Science in Environmental Management