Exploring the links between teaching approaches and student outcomes at a residential setting

Abstract

In this case study, we used a mixed-methods approach to identify the characteristics of environmental education (EE) lessons most positively associated with students’ environmental literacy outcomes at one residential EE center in the U.S. Students attending residential EE programs spend multiple days participating in numerous lessons, activities, and experiences, resulting in perhaps more opportunities to enhance students’ knowledge, attitudes, skills, and behavioral intentions related to environmental literacy. To explore what teaching approaches were most effective at enhancing immediate student outcomes and to provide insights for practitioners, we observed 80 lessons, tracked 20 observable teaching approaches, and administered questionnaires to measure students’ self-reported changes in environmental literacy outcomes. Correlation analyses revealed four variables related to enhanced student outcomes: affective messaging, environmental issue-focus, relevance, and effective time management. Two variables, fact-based teaching and data collection, were negatively correlated with student outcomes. Linear regression analysis with these six variables resulted in a model explaining 34% of the variance in the environmental literacy outcome. We discuss these findings and share examples of each practice from our qualitative observations. We also discuss broader applications of our mixed methods approach for the field.

Supplemental data for this article is available online at https://doi.org/10.1080/13504622.2022.2044454 .

Keywords:

• Environmental literacy
• environmental education
• best practices
• pedagogy
• observation
• evaluation

Disclosure statement

The authors have no potential conflict of interest to report. This study was reviewed and approved by the author(s) Institutional Review Board (#15-915).

Notes

1 ICC estimates and their 95% confidence intervals were calculated based on average measures using absolute-agreement and a two-way mixed-effects model.

2 Two additional backup educators were observed on rare occasions due to the primary educator being unable to teach a particular lesson.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

B. Troy Frensley

B. Troy Frensley is an assistant professor in the Department of Environmental Sciences where he teaches courses in environmental education and interpretation, global environmental issues, human dimensions of natural resource management, and environmental nonprofit organizations. His research focuses on environmental education; environmental interpretation; program evaluation; motivation and engagement; and citizen/community science.

M. J. Stern

Marc J. Stern is a professor in the Department of Forest Resources and Environmental Conservation where he teaches courses in environmental education and interpretation, social science research methods, and the human dimensions of natural resource management. His research focuses on human behavior within the contexts of natural resource planning and management, protected areas, and environmental education and interpretation.

R. B. Powell

Robert B. Powell is the George B. Hartzog, Jr. Endowed Professor in the Department of Parks, Recreation, and Tourism Management at Clemson University. He is also the Director of the Institute for Parks, which is an interdisciplinary institute focused on providing research, training, and outreach to support park and protected area management. His research and outreach program focuses on environmental education and interpretation, ecotourism, and protected area management.

M. J. Blackwell

Michael J. Blackwell is the Director of Education at the North Cascades Institute and has over thirty years of experience working in community-based non-profit organizations, academia, and the private sector. He has a master’s degree in educational psychology, and is passionate about holistic human learning and curriculum design.