Toward a Grounded Theory for Residential Environmental Education: A Case Study of the New Jersey School of Conservation

Abstract

The authors present the findings of a study that explored student perceptions of the residential environmental education (EE) program at the New Jersey School of Conservation. The authors administered a 3-item instrument that was based on the minute paper/muddiest point techniques to 2,779 students from 31 schools. A qualitative methodology with a grounded theory approach was used to discover which areas of the program were most meaningful, most confusing, and most interesting to the students. The findings revealed that students found social, personal, and wilderness survival sessions to be very meaningful. They thought orienteering and environmental science sessions were confusing. They were interested in learning more about many subjects, but they were less interested in social topics than environmental science, safety, or recreation topics. A grounded theory for effective residential environmental education is offered.

Keywords:

• attitudes
• children
• evaluation
• grounded theory
• residential environmental education (EE)
• qualitative