Turning Minds On and Faucets Off: Water Conservation Education in Jordanian Schools

Abstract

An evaluation was conducted to measure the impact of a curriculum implementation through the Jordan Water Conservation Education Project funded by USAID. This study examined the effect of recommending water conservation at the household level and the impact of using interactive teaching methods to promote conservation behaviors among students and their families. The evaluation used a postintervention design with random selection of participants. Comparisons were made among 671 students (424 experimental, 247 control) belonging to high school eco-clubs in central Jordan. Most students were girls in rural settings. The experimental group consisted of students whose teachers implemented an interactive curriculum and promoted household water-conservation behaviors. Teachers of students in the control group did not participate in the curriculum implementation, but those students were exposed to lectures about biodiversity issues. The results indicate that students who were exposed to the new curriculum demonstrated a higher level of knowledge about water conservation and performed recommended behaviors more often than students in the control group.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Reva Schwartz

Susan Middlestadt is the senior research adviser for Green-COM and vice president and director for research and evaluation at the Academy for Educational Development. Mona Grieser is the senior environmental education and communication specialist for GreenCOM and the president of Global Vision, Inc. Orlando Herncindez is the director of applied research for GreenCOM and the senior research and evaluation officer for the Academy for Educational Development. Khulood Tubaishat is an environmental educator with the Education Unit of the Royal Society for the Conservation of Nature, Jordan. Julie Sanchack is a research and evaluation associate for the Academy for Educational Development. Brian Southwell is a graduate student at the Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania. Reva Schwartz is the research analyst for GreenCOM.