Does student enthusiasm equal learning? The mismatch between observed and self-reported student engagement and environmental literacy outcomes in a residential setting

ABSTRACT

In this study, we explore the influence of student engagement on middle school students’ environmental literacy outcomes at a residential environmental education (EE) program. We observed 80 lessons and 17 educators, observing six measures related to engagement. We also administered immediate post-experience surveys measuring students’ self-reported levels of engagement and environmental literacy outcomes. Only self-reported student engagement was significantly associated with more positive outcomes. As such, observations of engaged or enthusiastic EE participants may not necessarily be indicative of achieving desired learning outcomes. The study reveals the importance of systematic evaluation over simplistic observations for gauging participant learning.

KEYWORDS:

• class observation
• environmental education
• environmental literacy
• evaluation
• residential environmental education
• student engagement

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank the NorthBay Education Foundation for their support of the study and the NorthBay educators and students who participated. We would also like to thank Michael Blackwell, for his invaluable assistance in the development and data collection for this work. This manuscript benefited from the thoughtful comments from reviewers and we thank them for their time. This study was approved by the Virginia Tech Institutional Review Board (#15-915).

Disclosure statement

The authors have no potential conflict of interest to report.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the National Science Foundation’s Advancing Informal STEM Education program under grant award [DRL 1612416] and the Institute for Museum and Library Services National Leadership Grant [MG-10-16-0057-16]. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation or the Institute for Museum and Library Services.