Browsing by Author "Powell, Robert B."

Now showing 1 - 11 of 11
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    Assessing the influence of preparation and follow-up on student outcomes associated with environmental education field trips
    Lee, Hannah Garrett (Virginia Tech, 2019-07-15)
    Experiential learning theory stresses the importance of adequate preparation and reflection surrounding concrete experiences. This study explores the relationship between preparation and follow-up classroom experiences and the outcomes of environmental education (EE) field trips, including environmental literacy, 21st century skills, positive youth development, satisfaction, and self-reported behavior change. Surveys with both students and their school teachers who attended over 300 EE programs reveal that both pre-trip preparation, especially concerning logistics, and post-trip follow up, related to the subject matter of the field trip, were significantly related to more positive student outcomes. The authors recommend both schools and organizations take into consideration how they can work together to create more holistic learning experiences.
  • Does environmental education work differently across sociopolitical contexts in the United States? PART I. Exploration of outcomes for adolescent youth
    Thorpe, Emily G.; Stern, Marc J.; Powell, Robert B.; Hemby, Tyler L. (Routledge, 2023-10-28)
    In the United States, the two main political parties, Democrats and Republicans, have become increasingly polarized, including with regard to environmental issues. As part of a national study of environmentally focused single-day field trips for early adolescent youth in 2018, we conducted exploratory research to examine how outcomes differed for public school students from different sociopolitical contexts (i.e. predominantly Democratic, Republican, or mixed). Students from wealthier Democratic contexts exhibited less positive outcomes, measured as self-reported changes in environmental literacy, compared to others. The findings suggest that single-day EE field trips in the United States, in their current forms, may be particularly valuable in lower income and more politically conservative contexts, possibly due to the degree of novelty they may provide to these audiences. Meanwhile, EE field trips for students from wealthier Democratic contexts may provide reinforcement rather than meaningful shifts in environmental literacy, suggesting a need for more novel approaches for these audiences.
  • 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
    Thorpe, Emily G.; Stern, Marc J.; Powell, Robert B.; Hemby, Tyler L. (Routledge, 2023-12-16)
    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.
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    Environmental education, age, race, and socioeconomic class: An exploration of differential impacts of field trips on adolescent youth in the United States
    Stern, Marc J.; Powell, Robert B.; Frensley, B. Troy (2021-10-21)
    Despite growing calls for greater inclusivity and cultural responsiveness, little is known about how environmental education (EE) may differentially affect diverse audiences. As part of a national study of 334 environmentally focused day field trips for adolescent youth in the United States in 2018, we examined how outcomes differed for students of different grade levels, racial backgrounds, and socioeconomic status. Participants who were younger, Hispanic, and from lower socioeconomic classes exhibited more positive outcomes than older, non-Hispanic, and wealthier participants. Differences in Hispanic populations are likely at least partially attributable to known survey response biases. We also found that programs with non-White instructors tended to yield higher levels of satisfaction in groups where the student majority was not White. We discuss potential explanations for these trends and call for further research on culturally responsive and age-appropriate approaches to EE. Supplemental data for this article is available online at https://doi.org/10.1080/13504622.2021.1990865 .
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    Exploring culturally responsive teaching and environmental education
    Pownall, Malia Ann (Virginia Tech, 2022-05-26)
    This thesis investigates culturally responsive teaching in the context of environmental education (EE) and is composed of an introduction (Chapter 1), one study intended for eventual publication (Chapter 2), and a personal reflection (Chapter 3). The introduction provides a brief overview of EE and explains why the topics of study included in this thesis are important to address. For Chapter 2, I conducted interviews to understand how environmental educators characterize culturally responsive EE, how they practice it, and what they identify are the key catalysts and challenges to providing culturally responsive EE. The results of this study indicate the importance of a multifaceted approach that incorporates EE content, educator practices, organizational practices, and a critically reflexive mindset. In Chapter 3, my personal reflection considers themes that were woven throughout the work, time, and thought spent on this project and as a master's student at Virginia Tech. This work is meant to provide ideas and guidance for EE practitioners as they seek out approaches for increasing relevance in EE programs, uplift equitable practices in the EE field, and progress along their journeys to awareness and action.
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    Exploring the influence of sociopolitical context on environmental education field trip effectiveness for adolescent youth in the United States
    Thorpe, Emily Grace (Virginia Tech, 2022-05-24)
    Environmental education (EE) programs strive to develop an environmentally literate citizenry capable of addressing the world's environmental problems. However, environmental concerns have become increasingly politically polarizing. As middle school-age youth are developing their own identities, they are likely becoming aware of the dominant political attitudes and environmental messages within their own communities. This thesis investigates the influence of sociopolitical context on student learning outcomes following participation in EE field trips and whether particular approaches produce more positive learning outcomes for students from different contexts. We used a quantitative approach employing pre-existing databases and geographic information systems to create measures of sociopolitical context for each school in our sample based on political partisanship and socioeconomic status. I have organized my research in three chapters: Chapter 1 presents a more comprehensive introduction to the field of EE and extended literature review regarding the question this research intends to address. Chapter 2 presents a quantitative study exploring the influence of sociopolitical context on student outcomes following participation in an EE field trip. Chapter 3 presents a reflection of my graduate learning experience and what I hope to achieve in the future. Results suggest that EE field experiences lead to less positive outcomes for students from wealthier Democratic contexts. While we also found some differences in program characteristics associated with outcomes for each sociopolitical subgroup, effect sizes were small and thus warrant further investigation. We discuss potential explanations for these trends and call for further research on the influence of sociopolitical context and socioeconomic status with relation to EE.
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    Interpreter Attributes and Their Impact on Visitor Outcomes in National Park Service Interpretive Programs
    McLean, Kevin Daniel (Virginia Tech, 2013-03-15)
    By revealing deeper meanings and connecting the visitor to the resource, interpretation strives to accomplish a number of goals. Interpretation can increase knowledge of a program\'s topic, change the visitor's attitude toward something, change future behaviors, and increase appreciation for a place and its resources. While literature exists professing best practices for interpretation, little empirical support is present in the research literature to validate these practices' individual links to desired outcomes. This study empirically identifies attributes of the interpreter that statistically linked to visitor outcomes. We tracked 31 interpreter attributes and 10 intended outcomes of interpreters in 376 live interpretive programs in 24 units of the U.S. National Park Service (NPS) and conducted visitor surveys immediately following the programs. This research addresses the following question: Which interpreter attributes most consistently lead to desired outcomes? Our research shows that the interpreter attributes most consistently associated with positive visitor outcomes were the interpreter's apparent degree of confidence and expression authentic emotion. The results can be used to inform interpretive training throughout the National Park Service.
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    Investigating aspects of diversity, equity, and inclusion, adaptive management, and evaluation in environmental education
    Anderson, Kelley Christine (Virginia Tech, 2021-05-24)
    This dissertation investigates aspects of diversity, equity, and inclusion, adaptive management, and evaluation in environmental education (EE), and is composed of and introduction, three stand-alone manuscripts (Chapters 2-4), and a conclusion. The introduction gives a brief overview of EE and explains why the topics of study included in this dissertation are important to address. In Chapter 2, we used pre-experience student surveys to understand how preparation, adult support, and students' racial identities influence student attendance to a residential environmental education program. Chapter 3 identifies areas and approaches for improving evaluation processes in EE and practitioner satisfaction with those processes. We collected these data using an online survey promoted on social media and emailed to EE practitioners involved in the North American Association for Environmental Education and the Association of Nature Center Administrators. Chapter 4 outlines a culturally responsive evaluation framework for use in EE. The results of these studies show there is far more to be done in the field of EE to create a welcoming and inclusive space for all audiences, to promote the use of evaluation as a tool for continuous learning and improvement, and to ensure evaluations are valid for and reflective of the culture of program participants. The conclusion discusses the two prevalent themes embedded in these manuscripts, namely diversity, equity and inclusion, and evaluation in EE, and ends with a reflection on my time here as a Ph.D. student and where I see my career path heading. This dissertation is meant to provide ideas and suggestions to environmental education practitioners that they can implement in hopes of improving EE and evaluation to meet the needs of all audiences and to address global environmental challenges.
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    Investigating the links between lesson characteristics, student engagement, and outcomes at a residential environmental education program
    Frensley, B. Troy (Virginia Tech, 2018-06-29)
    This dissertation investigates the links between lesson characteristics, student engagement, self-determination, and environmental literacy outcomes at a residential environmental education (EE) program. I developed a novel methodology using observations of 81 lessons at the study site to isolate the characteristics hypothesized to influence student engagement, self-determination, and outcomes of environmental literacy. Student surveys provided self-reported data on student engagement, selfdetermination, and environmental literacy. Mixed-methods analyses allowed me to explore these links within the 81 lessons observed in this case study. The results are organized into five chapters: an introduction chapter; three manuscripts planned for stand-alone publication (Chapters 2 - 4); and a conclusion chapter. Chapter 2 reports on the links between student engagement, self-determination, and environmental literacy. Chapter 3 provides insights on the links between the lesson characteristics (e.g., educator characteristics, teaching approaches, and schoolteacher/chaperone behaviors) and environmental literacy outcomes. Chapter 4 investigates the degree to which measures of student engagement, observed or self-reported, are associated with environmental literacy outcomes. Chapter 5 summarizes the findings from this study and presents additional analyses intended to fully synthesize the links between lesson characteristics, student engagement, self-determination, and environmental literacy. This study provides a novel methodology and survey items that may be of use to both practitioners and researchers. This research offers useful information about why and how EE works in this case and some of the specific characteristics and practices that engender positive environmental literacy outcomes.
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    An investigation of environmental education instructors: motivations, autonomy, experience, and their influences on student outcomes
    Pratson, Daniel Francis (Virginia Tech, 2019-07-09)
    Environmental education (EE) programming has been found to lead to positive behavioral and attitudinal outcomes in student participants. Among a variety of factors, the characteristics of EE program instructors have been found to play a role in driving these outcomes. This thesis investigates the specific motivators of EE instructors and the links between instructor autonomy, prior experience, and program outcomes. I used a multi-methods approach to investigate these themes and have organized the results between two chapters that are manuscripts intended as separate journal publications. Chapter 2 presents a qualitative study that identifies the salient motivators of EE instructors, as well as organizational practices that affect EE instructor feelings of autonomy, competence, relatedness, and the meaningfulness these instructors feel within their jobs. Chapter 3 presents a quantitative study analyzing the impact of autonomy and prior experience on program outcomes by linking instructor and student participant survey responses from a sample of 166 EE programs performed throughout 57 different organizations across the US. Results led to the following recommendations for EE organizations: (1) promote job enrichment elements for their instructional staff, including the implementing of participatory evaluation processes; (2) encourage instructors to take "ownership" of programming, such that they continue to practice and develop competence over time; (3) increase instructor autonomy as they gain further experience.
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    Which approaches are associated with better outcomes? Evidence from a national study of environmental education field trip programs for adolescent youth in the United States
    Powell, Robert B.; Stern, Marc J.; Frensley, Brandon Troy (Routledge, 2023-03)
    Which approaches are associated with better student learning outcomes in environmental education (EE)? We observed a sample of 299 day-long EE field trip programs occurring across the U.S.A. for youth in grades 5-8 (ages 9 to 14). We tracked the extent of use and quality of implementation of 66 programmatic, educator, and setting characteristics and measured student outcomes immediately after the programs using a retrospective survey. A series of complementary tests identified 11 characteristics that were most powerfully and consistently associated with learning outcomes, accounting for 18% of variance in learning outcomes. These included group size, naturalness, novelty, place-based pedagogy, verbal engagement, quality questions, transitions, and staging, as well as the responsiveness, comfort and clarity, and emotional support provided by the educator. Some of the most commonly promoted practices in the EE field were rarely observed. Implications are discussed for both practice and research.