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Abstract
With a growing movement to re-connect children to nature, an understanding of the ability of environmental education (EE) programs to foster connectedness to nature is needed. The purpose of this exploratory quantitative study is to determine the effect of seven EE programs on participants' connectedness to nature. Results from the 385 children who participated in this study suggest two of the programs may be associated with a significant increase in connectedness to nature; however, due to the limitations of the study and a potential ‘ceiling effect’ of high initial levels of connectedness, further research is needed.
Acknowledgements
Funding for this study was from the Consortium on Law and Values in Health, Environment & the Life Sciences at the University of Minnesota. The authors wish to acknowledge Sean Connolly, USFWS Division of Fishery Resources, Janet Ady, National Conservation Training Center, and the USFWS sites for their willingness to be studied and the principals, teachers, and students at each of the seven programs for their assistance and participation.