Importance of a Comparison Group and a Long-Term Follow-Up Test in Evaluating Environmental Education Experiences
Marissa Nolan 1 2 * , Elizabeth Folta 3 , Gregory McGee 1
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1 State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry, Syracuse, NY, USA2 Cornell Cooperative Extension, Montour Falls, NY, USA3 North Carolina Zoo, Asheboro, NC, USA* Corresponding Author

Abstract

This study evaluated the impacts on environmental literacy after a non-formal science-based program and compared the impacts to a non-formal non-science-based program. Both programs included children in grades six to eleven (ages 11 to 17) from the Syracuse, New York, USA area. Environmental literacy was assessed by administering environmental attitude and environmental knowledge pre-, post-, and follow-up tests to both programs’ participants. Initially, environmental attitude scores were higher for the participants in the science-based program. However, this was not a lasting impact. According to the follow-up test, attitude scores were not elevated for the science-based program. Without the follow-up tests given weeks after the program end, we could have inferred environmental attitudes were increased by the science-based program. Environmental knowledge was higher at the end of the science-based program but also increased in the comparison group. The gains in environmental knowledge were sustained for several weeks, but differences between the two programs did not persist. Without the comparison group we could have inferred that environmental knowledge increased solely due to the science-based program. These results show incorporating both a comparison group and a follow-up assessment are necessary to properly evaluate the effectiveness of increasing environmental literacy from science-based programs.

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This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Article Type: Research Article

INTERDISCIP J ENV SCI ED, Volume 18, Issue 4, 2022, Article No: e2277

https://doi.org/10.21601/ijese/11987

Publication date: 07 Apr 2022

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Article Downloads: 1027

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