Evaluating a Constructivist and Culturally Responsive Approach to Environmental Education for Diverse Audiences

Abstract

The NorthBay Adventure Center offers five-day residential programs that meld environmental and character education using experiential techniques and multi-media messaging. This article explores the influences of these programs on urban and non-urban middle-school participants in three areas: character development and leadership; environmental responsibility, and attitudes toward school. The authors found significant positive short-term effects on all outcomes of interest. Three-month delayed posttests indicate retention of significant gains in character development and leadership and environmental responsibility, while gains in school-related outcomes faded. Urban students responded more positively to the NorthBay program than did students from suburban and rural areas.

Keywords:

• adaptive management
• character development
• diversity
• environmental education
• environmental responsibility
• evaluation
• school attitudes
• urban

Acknowledgments

We thank the NorthBay staff and students who participated in this effort, especially Dan Burke, Adina Nielson, and Dylan Fitzsimmons, who spearheaded data collection and data entry tasks on-site. We also especially thank Keith Williams, who reviewed an earlier draft of this manuscript, and Sara Murrill, who helped with the literature review.

Notes

*Conditional tense used in immediate post-experience surveys only.

**Inverse used to construct index.

*Statistically significant change from pre-experience score (p ≤ .01)

*Statistically significant difference between subgroups (p ≤ .01).