Field Of Environmental Education Research Articles

Compost for your seeds: implementation strategies for environmental education in Chile from the ERIC taxonomy

The increasing interest in climate change and environmental education has highlighted the importance of strategies to enhance the adoption, implementation, and sustainability of these initiatives. However, the field of environmental education has not extensively explored implementation strategies, despite the existence of frameworks and taxonomies. This study aims to address this gap by identifying strategies suggested by environmental education professionals in Chile. A total of 91 participants responded to an online survey that included open-ended questions. Through content analysis, 24 categories aligned with existing frameworks and 7 categories emerging from the local context were identified. These categories were organized in a descending order, revealing the prominence of scale-up, process, capacity-building, integration, and dissemination strategies. While strategies from established frameworks were found, the study also highlights the emergence of strategies specific to the environmental education field, contextual factors, and the implementation phase of environmental education in Chile.

Positioning controversy in environmental and sustainability education

This study delves into the intricate dynamics of controversial issues in environmental education, challenging conventional notions. It explores the relationship between “controversy” and the field of environmental education, elucidating its multifaceted dimensions in and ambitions of teaching practice. In dialogue with previous research and based on our empirical study, we contend that controversy’s existence transcends the mere content of education and extends to its perceived fundamental core and normative underpinnings. We argue that controversy, including controversial sustainability issues (CSIs), is not confined to educational content alone but encompasses the purposes of education. We propose that controversy in educational encounters cannot be neatly categorized as a fixed, predictable social product and is not solely dependent on student interaction. This challenges earlier research positions that linked controversy to the presence of debate or dissensus in a subject area. Our study challenges the traditional understanding of controversy, highlighting its partial spontaneity and unpredictability in teaching. This contrasts previous positions that emphasized the epistemic dimension of controversy. Instead, our findings suggest that controversy plays an active role in the process of self-formation or subjectification in relation to any content.

Performing yoga postures in an environmental education course: The potential of creating pedagogical places of contemplation for the empowerment of ecological consciousness

The present study attempts to answer if yoga practice belongs to environmental education and how it can contribute to the development of ecological consciousness in the framework of a holistic pedagogical paradigm. Twenty-three post-graduate students participated in an environmental education activity based on performing yoga postures inspired by nonhuman creatures and entities. The participants reflected on their experiences by recording their ideas and feelings. The results of the survey revealed that the participants experienced embodied environmental learning, highlighted a healing dimension of the educational process, and experienced a connection with creatures and entities of nonhuman nature at different levels. Yoga philosophy and practice as a contemplative learning method deserve to be explored more widely in the field of environmental education, and especially regarding the development of ecological consciousness.

Mediating and Moderating Factors Affecting Pro-environmental Decision-Making: A Spanish Study

Abstract Because it is relevant to analyse the variables that may influence pro-environmental decision-making, the aim of this study was to analyse (a) the mediating role of perceived responsibility towards climate change (CC) in the relationship between scepticism towards CC and pro-environmental decision-making; and (b) the moderating role of implicit theories about CC (ITCC) in the relationship between responsibility and pro-environmental decision-making. For this purpose, 209 Spanish students (48.8% female, 43.1% male,and 8.1% preferring not to report their gender; mean age = 17.48, sd = 3.78) completed a questionnaire twice (two months apart) and subsequently (again, two months apart) indicated how many days they wanted to participate in a beach cleanup campaign. The results corroborate that (a) responsibility mediates the relationship between scepticism and pro-environmental decision-making, and (b) ITCC moderates the relationship between responsibility and pro-environmental decision-making. The study highlights the need to foster beliefs about the mitigation of CC and to promote reliable information in order to reduce scepticism towards CC, as well as feelings of responsibility towards CC in the field of Environmental Education.

The messy middle: an exploratory study of adolescent environmentalists in North Carolina

Today’s adolescents have grown up with technology as a main element in their lives and are particularly susceptible to experiencing mental health challenges, so-called nature-deficit disorder, and eco-anxiety around the climate crisis. This unique developmental context may necessitate a reconceptualising of adolescents’ relationships with the environment including their connection to nature. We identified nine adolescents from North Carolina who had high levels of connection to nature and participated in environmental education programs. Using reflexive thematic analysis of data gathered through semi-structured interviews, we developed three themes to reflect how this group of US-based adolescents experience their connection to nature: optimism and limitations related to individual actions; environmentalism as more than a phase; and complex relationships (with nature, environmentalism, and technology). This exploratory study has prompted us to reflect upon how traditional conceptualisations of core concepts in the field of environmental education may require more nuance in the twenty-first century.

Connecting schools and communities: a look at place-based learning and equitable access in SF Bay Area outdoor environmental education

Outdoor environmental education aims to immerse students in environmental spaces and create opportunities for classroom learning to be applied in the field. However, students from Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) and low-income communities often have less access to these educational opportunities. This study examined the environmental education programs of nine community organizations in the San Francisco (SF) Bay Area. Through twenty-one interviews with program educators, we assessed two areas: (1) place-based learning being used as a connective tool for students and the community, and (2) ways in which access barriers to programming were addressed. Findings showed that community spaces, like gardens, brought students and the community together to reinforce the mission of place-based learning. Additionally, the findings contribute to the field of outdoor environmental education and place-based education by addressing how local organizations strategized to support equitable access through tactics like financial support and multilingual programming and materials.

WalkingScapes as ecopedagogy

This study of ecologically lived experience focuses on walking as a sensory, embodied practice with/in Nature and extends the emergent conceptual and empirical literature on ecopedagogy as/in scapes. The scope is outdoor environmental education in Australia, where walking is practiced as bushwalking in relatively natural environments. This cultural construct of bushwalking is problematic due to the standardized and instrumentalized logics of practice. The embodied ecopedagogical qualities and characteristics are under researched and get lost in the commodified bush. Two purposes are examined. One, to presence the felt and affective dimensions of environmental learning. Second, to contribute to the existing practice theorization of ecopedagogy as/in scapes, both of which advance the field of outdoor and environmental education and their research. In this first person study, two cases are presented and inductively interpreted as a grounded theorization of walkingScapes as ecopedagogy.

Ecological camps for children of indigenous peoples of the North: background and prospects

To organize any environmental camp, it is necessary to find its prerequisites, from which the goals and objectives of the camp are established. Since 2000 up to the present time in the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) nomadic camps - temporary educational organizations during summer days for children living in remote, hard-to-reach settlements of the Arctic, where indigenous small-numbered peoples of the North live. The article deals with the process of creating the first ecological camps for children of the indigenous peoples of the North - Evens, as well as the development and search for optimal options for new forms of temporary children's groups during the summer vacation days in the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) for environmental education, rational nature management, teaching the native language and culture, including traditional economic activities of the peoples of the North. Experience has shown that the nomadic ethno-ecological camp is a new form in the field of environmental education. During the camps' activities, various technologies and methods were applied with the direct participation of conservationists and educators in the field of ecology and biology.

AET Volume 2 Nomor 3] Environmental, medical, and educational research sustainability in the age of technology: An editorial review

The six articles on Applied Engineering and Technology Volume 2 No 3 December 2023 presented have significant relevance in current engineering and technological developments to the three sectors: Environmental sustainability, Medicine, and Education. First, in an era that increasingly pays attention to environmental sustainability, as reflected in efforts to mitigate the environmental impact of the oil and gas industry, Effiom's research on developing bio-based drilling fluid becomes relevant and reflects the industry's efforts to adopt environmentally friendly solutions in the oil and gas exploration process [1]. This research develops and optimizes local pear seed-based biocyte fluid. Throughout the world, oil exploration and exploitation have had severe environmental impacts. So, it is very important to develop drilling fluid for oil exploration. This research optimizes drilling fluids by using biodegradable materials. The optimized drilling fluid contains environmentally friendly and cost-effective characteristics and is expected to be widely used in oil exploration, reducing adverse environmental impacts. Princewill et al. [2] conducted a safety and economic evaluation of boil-off gas (BOG) in global petroleum (LPG) storage tanks. BOG production impacts safety and economic profitability in the liquefied petroleum gas supply chain. This research evaluates BOG production due to heat leaks in storage tanks by analyzing thermodynamic properties and heat transfer equations. The research results show that maintaining isolation and external factors minimizes BOG formation. Therefore, this research provides essential guidance and suggestions for the safety and economic benefits of the liquefied petroleum gas supply chain. Finally, Yudanto et al. [3] used computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and Taguchi methods to calculate the CPU cooling system. The performance and stability of electronic devices are significant for users in today's rapid development of information technology. This study analyzes the impact of different cooling system configurations on CPU temperatures and provides practical insights into electronic thermite design. Through numerical simulations, the research results provide an essential reference for developing computer hardware design. Second, Agughasi and Srinivasiah [4] developed a semisupervised method for characterizing multiple chest X-ray images in the medical field. Accurate marker images are critical for training supervised learning models in medical image handling. However, manually tagging a large number of images requires time and effort. Therefore, this study suggests using unsupervised cluster technology-based K-Means and Self-Organizing Maps to produce reliable images. In this way, medical imaging processing costs can be reduced significantly, speeding up the research and application process. Meanwhile, in the education sector, Mariscal et al. [5] developed the mobile application MobILcaps to improve information literacy for social science students in higher education as a relevant instrument to facilitate teaching. Information literacy is crucial for developing individuals and society in today's information era. Based on cognitive, constructivist, and connectivity theories, this application has provided multimedia resources for students to facilitate independent learning. By working with teachers and students, this application provides practical tools and avenues for increasing students' information literacy levels. In addition, Riva et al. [6] developed AdPisika as an electronic learning system tailored to improve student academic achievement. In today's educational environment, personalized learning is critical to increasing the impact of learning for students. This research, based on learning style models and machine learning algorithms, personally optimizes learning materials, thereby improving students' learning performance. This system has significantly improved students' academic performance through experimental verification, providing practical ways to align education. In conclusion, these studies make essential contributions and provide valuable references and guidance for applying engineering and technology research and practice in the fields of Environmental sustainability, Medicine, and Education. Future research could investigate the depth and breadth of these areas and test the feasibility and effectiveness of such research through practical applications and experimental testing. In the context of environmental sustainability potential research includes exploration in the development of bio-based drilling fluid using alternative materials that are more environmentally friendly, research on green technology to reduce the impact of boil-off gas (BOG) in the LPG industry, and research on processor types and system configurations as well as the development of more efficient materials and more innovative cooling technology to improve the performance of the CPU cooling system. In the medical field, deepen semi-supervised labeling methods for medical image processing can focus on developing more sophisticated algorithms and further validation of various medical datasets. Meanwhile, in the educational context, developing broader mobile applications could increase information literacy. It could be useful if it adapted to various disciplines and research on integrating more advanced AI technology for adaptive e-learning systems more effectively.

Curricular environmentalization in the training of receptive tourism professionals

The article aimed to analyze the degree of curricular environmentalization of training courses for receptive tourism professionals in the state of Sergipe, Brazil. The objectives of the study were defined from the problematization of the importance of including environmental issues in professional training processes. The problem is addressed using as main theoretical references studies from the fields of environmental education, sustainable tourism, technical training, and curriculum environmentalization. The research corpus, submitted to content analysis, consisted of syllabuses from training courses for receptive tourism offered in Aracaju. The results show that the courses that have the highest degree of curricular environmentalization form far less professionals, while the courses that have the lowest degree of curricular environmentalization are those that form the vast majority of professionals.

Does environmental education work differently across sociopolitical contexts in the United States? Part II. Examining pedagogy in school field trip programs for early adolescent youth across political contexts

Political polarization in the United States has made many environmental issues strongly partisan, with Democrats largely receptive to environmental messaging and Republicans commonly pitted against it. This phenomenon may have meaningful implications for how environmental education is conducted for people from different sociopolitical contexts. We explored whether certain pedagogical approaches to single-day environmental education field trip programs were linked to better or worse outcomes for early adolescent youth (ages 10–14) from different sociopolitical contexts: majority Republican, majority Democrat, or mixed (roughly even). All observed effect sizes were small with one exception. Play-based pedagogies tended to yield less positive outcomes for students from Republican majority contexts than others, with a medium effect size. The findings suggest that some traditional approaches to play, such as role-playing as animals or pretending to be water droplets, may feel incongruent with the social identities of students from largely Republican communities.

Transformative ecojustice pedagogies: Outcomes of sociology students mentoring high school service learners

This case study investigated the transformative learning outcomes for undergraduate students enrolled in two sociology courses taught by The State University of New York at Albany, at an urban ecoliteracy environmental justice center. Authors conducted participant observation and gathered data from surveys, semi-structured interviews, and focus groups with university student, high school, and community stakeholders. In the short-term, sociology students exhibited an increased interest in civic engagement, an heightened awareness of community and environmental issues, and committed to adopting pro-environmental behaviors. Transformative learning outcomes were documented in relation to affirming/changes in longer-term academic, life, and career paths. This research contributes to the fields of urban environmental education and environmental sociology that advocate for a better understanding of the outcomes of programs that facilitate youth mentoring and experiential ecojustice pedagogies that emphasize social justice development, issues of power and justice, and the enhancement of civic engagement, action competencies, and critical consciousness.

Investigating the influence of preparation and perceived adult support on student attendance to a residential environmental education program

Do preparation and perceived support from guardians and teachers influence student attendance to a residential environmental education (EE) field trip program? To explore this question, pre-visit surveys were administered to racially diverse sixth-grade students at seven schools invited to attend a residential EE program at no cost, namely NorthBay Education in North East, Maryland, USA. Results indicate that while desire to attend the residential camp did not differ by students’ racial identity, Black and Latinx students were less likely to attend the program. Guardian support to attend and logistical preparation were each positively related to student attendance, irrespective of racial group, with Latinx students reporting the lowest levels of guardian support to attend. Black student attendance was also correlated with geographic and psychological preparation. Tailoring pre-trip preparation and engagement to address the unique needs of each schools’ student body is likely needed to promote student attendance. However, these results indicate that inequities in program attendance persist across racial groups and further investigation into program conception, design, communication, and execution is needed to understand and address this concern.

Assessing barriers to participation in environmental education field trips in the Congaree Biosphere Reserve

Environmental education (EE) is instrumental in developing environmentally literate citizens with the knowledge, attitudes, and skills necessary to support sustainable development. In the case of EE school field trips in the USA, these experiences also foster learning and skill development that supports meeting state and national educational standards. However, despite the importance of EE field trip programs, not all schools participate. This study explored the barriers to accessibility to EE field trips by conducting semi-structured interviews with EE providers and administrators of middle schools in the Congaree Biosphere Reserve (CBR), South Carolina, USA. We also used geospatial information systems to investigate accessibility spatially. Results suggest that aspatial barriers such as curricular constraints, capacity to plan and lead field trips, costs, and transportation influence participation. The results also suggest that these aspatial barriers are often interlinked and that access to EE field trips is disproportionately allocated to students in private education and urban settings and that rural, poor, minority, underperforming, and English as Second Language students face additional hurdles. We discuss a range of potential solutions to overcoming these barriers that reduce participation in EE field trips in the CBR.

Environmental Education for Sustainable Development: A Bibliometric Review of Curriculum Design and Pedagogical Approaches

Environmental education plays a pivotal role in fostering a sustainable future by equipping individuals with the knowledge, skills, and attitudes needed to address complex environmental challenges. This research presents a comprehensive bibliometric review of the literature on environmental education for sustainable development, with a specific focus on curriculum design and pedagogical approaches. The analysis encompasses a wide range of scholarly articles published between 1961 and 2023, providing valuable insights into the current state of research in this field. Furthermore, the research employs VOSviewer, a bibliometric software, to analyze co-citation and bibliographic coupling networks, identifying influential authors, prominent journals, and emerging trends within the field. The most frequent and fewer occurring keywords are compared to highlight central concepts and potential areas for further research. The results of this study contribute to a comprehensive understanding of the diverse themes, effective practices, and influential contributors in environmental education for sustainable development. By identifying key areas of focus and research gaps, educators, policymakers, and researchers can design targeted interventions and initiatives that promote environmental literacy, responsible behavior, and sustainable practices among learners. Ultimately, this research seeks to advance the field of environmental education and empower individuals to become active stewards of the environment, shaping a more sustainable and resilient future for all.

Restoration‐based education: a brief overview of a field under construction

Education and restoration belong to fields that are profuse in academic production, are integrated into politics and governmental decision‐making, are present in business sectors, and have gained the public interest and the participation of civil society. Therefore, it might seem relatively easy to integrate both spheres of social and environmental interest. However, both sciences and practices belong to traditions of human and natural sciences, cultures whose conceptual and methodological articulation have not been easy throughout history. This article argues that for true integration of education in ecological restoration the following conditions are required: (1) a defined positioning about sustainable development and the purpose of the ecological restoration, (2) recognition of the complexity of the environmental education field, and (3) knowledge of the main postulates of the “restoration‐based education” (RBE). Based on selected RBE cases, we discuss the possibilities of putting into practice theoretical postulates of this transdisciplinary field of work.

Availability and distribution of environmental education field trip programs for adolescent students in the U.S.: a national study of spatial accessibility

What is the availability and distribution of single-day environmental education field trip programs for adolescent students across the U.S.? We assessed the spatial accessibility to EE field trip programs for U.S. schools that serve grades 5-8 (ages 10-14) by (1) compiling a comprehensive national database of 2,930 EE providers that offer field trip programs, (2) identifying 89, 311 middle schools’ locations, student populations, and relevant demographic information, and (3) calculating drive times between schools and EE provider locations using a high-performance computing cluster. We then used the integrated Floating Catchment Area method to calculate each school’s relative spatial access to EE field trip providers. Results suggest that spatial access was highly spatially clustered, particularly around several geographic regions (coastal California metropolitan areas, the southern Rockies, northern Kentucky, North Carolina, the western shore of Lake Michigan, and the high-density, contiguous metropolitan areas of the Northeast). Spatial access was also strongly related to partisan lean and urbanity, with more rural, White, and Republican-leaning areas generally having significantly less spatial access to EE field trips.

The Effect of Environmental Education Open Inquiry Learning Kits on the Environmental Literacy of Pre-service Biology Teachers

Abstract Pre-service biology teachers’ environmental literacy is still generally low. It is necessary to improve their environmental literacy through the innovation of open inquiry learning kits. There are two primary aims of this study: (1) to develop appropriate open inquiry learning kits that can foster pre-service biology teachers’ environmental literacy in environmental education courses, (2) to examine the effectiveness of open inquiry learning kits in improving environmental literacy. This study used the procedure of the 4-D Thiagarajan model, i.e., four stages: (1) define, (2) design, (3) develop, and (4) disseminate. The products produced are open inquiry lesson plans, student worksheets, and environmental literacy test instruments. The product validation was carried out by experts in the field of environmental education and biology teaching and learning. The preliminary field testing and the main field testing were carried out in environmental education courses. The data were collected through observation, questionnaires, and written tests. The data were analyzed in a quantitative descriptive way through the calculation of the gain score. The results obtained from the research and development are open inquiry learning kits to improve the environmental literacy of students, which as a whole are suitable to use in environmental education lectures based on expert judgment. These open inquiry learning kits are not very effective in improving students’ environmental literacy based on the calculations of the gain score due to various shortcomings.

The PhotoVoice method in Science, Social, and Environmental Education

PhotoVoice, which enables students to take an active role, has started to be used in schools byenvironmental, social, and science educators. In this context, this study was conducted to analyze the useof the PhotoVoice method in science, social, and environmental education studies. To collect data, Web ofScience (WoS) was selected as the source. As a database, it is one of the most used resources by allresearchers, including many disciplines. It was tried to reach all the resources related to PhotoVoice. Only“#PhotoVoice” was used as a keyword. But English was selected as the language. As a result, 2690documents were reached. All data was then downloaded as Tab Delimited File and saved in a format of .txtfile. Secondly, the process of selecting documents related to education was followed. For this, the txt filesare transferred into an Excel file and saved. Afterward, documents related to education (science, socialscience and environmental) were selected (N=88). Research finding showed that although PhotoVoice iswidely used in the fields of environmental education (f=38, 43.2%) and social sciences (f=39, 44.3%), ithas been used at a very low rate in science (f=11, 12.5%). However, the majority of the documents werepublished as articles (f=81, 92%). Review studies (f=7, 8%) were published in the fields of environmentaleducation and social sciences. As of 2008, studies in the field of education have started to be published.Between 2008 and 2010, PhotoVoice studies in environmental education were published. The number ofpublications has increased in recent years, especially after 2017. The highest number of publications wasreached in 2020 (f=23, 26.14%) and 2021 (f=19, 21.59), whereas the decrease was determined in 2022(f=11, 12.5%). The distribution of publications by years and fields tends to increase towards environmentaleducation and social sciences. Furthermore, PhotoVoice studies widely used in environmental educationare in sustainability (28.21%), climate change (15.38%), environmental education (10.26%), and ecosystemservices (7.69%), respectively.

Asking meaningful questions in digital outdoor learning tool - a way to support conceptual change

When teaching about complex phenomena (e.g. concepts related to the natural environment), good quality questioning could lead to a more profound conceptual change. However, asking questions that help students to construct new knowledge is a challenge for many educators. To help promote better questioning, we analyzed the kind of questions (N = 3168) educators used in “trails” in a digital outdoor learning tool “Discovery Trail” designed for supporting the environmental education field. For analysis we used a model distinguishing cognitively lower-order from higher-order open-ended questions and then categorized the higher order questions by their degree of complexity. Results show that trails created for educational purposes have more cognitively complex questions compared to non-educational trails. Still, only 20% of all the questions used in trails with educational purposes were cognitively complex. Moreover, 60% of all educational trails did not have any cognitively complex open-ended questions, indicating that educators tend not to use the tool for supporting conceptual change. Simple recall questions were mainly used through educational trails. Digital outdoor learning tool creators and users could benefit by considering how to more effectively construct questions that promote conceptual change as this is crucial to support the understanding about complex environmental topics.