A Framework for Teaching, Learning, and Assessing Environmental Issues

Abstract

A twelve-question framework for teaching, learning, and assessing environmental issues was created through analysis of environmental textbooks and interviews with professors and researchers who specialize in the environment. Concepts in the framework include: causes, scale, spatial distribution, longevity, consequences, risks, economic implications, solutions, obstacles, social values, stakeholders, political status, behavior changes, and personal actions. The twelve-question framework was submitted to a validity panel of geographers. Statistical analysis of responses from the panel indicates that the framework is valid.

Key words:

• environment
• environmental issue
• framework
• validity panel
• undergraduates

Acknowledgments

Funding for this research was provided by the Waste Management Research and Education Institute at the University of Tennessee and the National Environmental Education Training Foundation in Washington, D. C.

Rosalyn McKeown-Ice, Ph.D., is the director of the Center for Geography and Environmental Education at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. Her research focuses on environmental literacy and sustainability education.

Roger Dendinger, Ph.D., is an associate professor and Chair of the Social Sciences Department at the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology in Rapid City. He teaches geography and international relations. His research focuses on the development of new reservations by recently recognized American Indian tribes.

Notes

1. The Environmental Literacy and Citizenship Assessment Instrument (ELCAI) consists of four modules—natural science, social science, environmental issues, and environmentally responsible behaviors. The first three modules are higher-order thinking-skill multiple-choice tests. Most of the questions are based on environmental scenarios or case studies. The fourth module is a self-reporting survey. The ELCAI, which was created by the Center for Geography and Environmental Education at the University of Tennessee, is Web-based for ease in administration.

2. Validity is defined and categorized in several ways—for example, internal and external validity or content, criterion, and construct. This article is focused on content validity. Wiersma (2000) describes one approach to content validity, “a logical analysis of content or a logical analysis of what would make up an educational trait, construct, or characteristic.” This is essentially a “judgment analysis” (p. 299).

3. Although most of the respondents were geographers by educational degree, one was an engineer, and two others declined to state their disciplinary backgrounds. Just as many geographers have become educators through professional experience and free-choice learning opportunities, others, who have various academic backgrounds, have become geographers outside of the time spent as students in degree programs.