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.

<p>In this dissertation, I investigate the authentic learning experiences of students participating in the Engineering Projects in Community Service (EPICS) program at Purdue University within the framework of authentic education. Utilizing a quantitative approach, the study assesses the performance of new and returning students across five key outcomes that measure authentic learning during a single semester. The analysis of variance (ANOVA) revealed significant main effects for time of assessment and type of student on performance, with an overall improvement in all outcomes observed from mid-term to final evaluations and returning students typically outperforming new students. Interaction effects between time and type were also examined, revealing subtle yet complex dynamics in students’ learning trajectories. The findings hold implications for enhancing authentic learning, especially in engineering design contexts, and offer insights to guide future implementation of and improvements to authentic education initiatives, particularly the EPICS program. Despite certain limitations, the research opens avenues for future investigations into diverse aspects of authentic education in STEM and beyond.  </p>

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This study constructs themes and propositions about the experiences of youth participants in the fall 2013 Food Landscapes program at the Neighborhood Resource Center in Richmond, Virginia. During the program, youth participated in cooking-based volunteerism with adults with disabilities and created short videos about their experiences. In this study, I analyzed pre- and post-program participant interviews, twice-weekly program observations, and facilitator reflections to understand how Food Landscapes affected youths’ conception of community engagement and communication strategies. This case study offers insight into how youth experience after-school programming of this design. Based on my findings, youth develop and rely upon a sense of togetherness in out-of-school programs. Togetherness as a bridge to commitment strengthens participation. Individually, youth need to form personal connections to and/or empathy with the content areas of the program in order to derive meaning, critically reflect, and problem solve. Furthermore, the youth articulated their perceptions of the community and the program by developing, organizing, and voicing their ideas of cooking/food, volunteering, and art making. By sharing research about the experiences of youth in after-school programming, organizations and educators can better construct, facilitate, and sustain youth participation and engagement.

Rooted deep in Germany's past is its modern socio-political grounding for environmental respect and sustainability. This translates into individual and collective action and extends equally to the economic and policy realm as it does to educational institutions. This thesis evaluates research conducted in Germany with a view to what best approaches are transferable to the United States liberal arts setting. Furthermore, exemplary American models of institutional sustainability and environmental education are explored and combined with those from abroad to produce a blueprint and action plan fitting for the American college and university.

This thesis examined diverse students' experiences completing Ontario's community involvement requirement. An analysis of quantitative surveys and qualitative focus groups among 50 current and recently graduated secondary school students from widely contrasting socio-economic settings showed ways in which diverse participants perceived their community involvement activities, the support for community involvement in their schools, and their associated opportunities to develop capacity to make changes toward a more socially just world. Results indicated that low-income participants reported dissimilar experiences from high-income participants, in relation to the support for community involvement provided by school staffs, participants' direct or distant relationships with service recipients, and their sense of individual and collective agency to effect change. Thus, this study challenges the assumption that all students in Ontario have equal access to the citizenship education learning opportunities embedded in meaningful community involvement activities.

This thesis examined diverse students' experiences completing Ontario's community involvement requirement. An analysis of quantitative surveys and qualitative focus groups among 50 current and recently graduated secondary school students from widely contrasting socio-economic settings showed ways in which diverse participants perceived their community involvement activities, the support for community involvement in their schools, and their associated opportunities to develop capacity to make changes toward a more socially just world. Results indicated that low-income participants reported dissimilar experiences from high-income participants, in relation to the support for community involvement provided by school staffs, participants' direct or distant relationships with service recipients, and their sense of individual and collective agency to effect change. Thus, this study challenges the assumption that all students in Ontario have equal access to the citizenship education learning opportunities embedded in meaningful community involvement activities.

This qualitative, phenomenological case study investigated the influence of character education, taught in addition to the Life Skills curriculum, on challenging behaviour in a primary school in Gauteng. Through a filtering process the researcher identified the Youth Citizens’ Action Programme (YCAP) as a suitable additional programme, one which currently includes democratic citizenship and service learning approaches. These are attuned to the study’s theoretical framework, which vests in social and experiential learning, modelling and observation. Although the YCAP at this particular Gauteng school is each year implemented by a team of Grade 7 learners, the implementation of the YCAP involved all the learners across grades. Hence, the empirical study focused on the contribution of the Grade 7 learners to addressing bullying, which learners themselves identified as the most prevalent form of challenging behaviour. The findings showed that the YCAP decreased bullying as challenging behaviour in this particular school. / Inclusive Education / M. Ed. (Inclusive Education)

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of the use of technology on students’ mathematics achievement, particularly the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT) mathematics results. Eleven schools within the Miami-Dade County Public School System participated in a pilot program on the use of Geometers Sketchpad (GSP). Three of these schools were randomly selected for this study. Each school sent a teacher to a summer in-service training program on how to use GSP to teach geometry. In each school, the GSP class and a traditional geometry class taught by the same teacher were the study participants. Students’ mathematics FCAT results were examined to determine if the GSP produced any effects. Students’ scores were compared based on assignment to the control or experimental group as well as gender and SES. SES measurements were based on whether students qualified for free lunch. The findings of the study revealed a significant difference in the FCAT mathematics scores of students who were taught geometry using GSP compared to those who used the traditional method. No significant differences existed between the FCAT mathematics scores of the students based on SES. Similarly, no significant differences existed between the FCAT scores based on gender. In conclusion, the use of technology (particularly GSP) is likely to boost students’ FCAT mathematics test scores. The findings also show that the use of GSP may be able to close known gender and SES related achievement gaps. The results of this study promote policy changes in the way geometry is taught to 10th grade students in Florida’s public schools.