Environmental education

About: Environmental education is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 14551 publications have been published within this topic receiving 211056 citations. The topic is also known as: environmental learning.

Homework and fieldwork: investigations into the rhetoric–reality gap in environmental education research and pedagogy

Abstract: For years, environmental educators have been arguing that the culture of schooling (mostly focused on cultural reproduction) is antithetical to environmental education. Within this context, it is often suggested that environmental education occurs when there is a particularly passionate and motivated teacher who, despite frequent barriers, maintains environmental education as a priority. Yet the author’s doctoral research suggests that even strong beliefs, significant skills, and an ideal program structure do not lead to the implementation of effective environmental education. Drawing on narrative inquiry, arts‐based research and poststructural analysis, this study examines ways in which the privileging of the intellect in research and pedagogy may be making effective environmental education almost impossible.

Implementation of Problem-Based Learning in Environmental Chemistry.

Abstract: Environmental Chemistry covers a range of topics within the discipline of chemistry, from toxicology to legislation, which warrants interdisciplinary study. Consequently, problem-based learning (PBL), a style of student-centered learning which facilitates the integration of multiple subjects, was investigated to determine if it would be a more appropriate instructional method for teaching Environmental Chemistry than the traditional teacher-centered education model. This article describes the practical aspects of course development and implementation of PBL in a master’s level course in Environmental Chemistry. Overall, the results, which were collected from the initial two years of the course, indicated that the students were pleased and found PBL to be an efficient methodology for not only learning, but also acquiring an in-depth understanding of Environmental Chemistry. This is intended as a case-study with the target audience consisting primarily of high school and undergraduate chemistry teachers, bu...

Social Learning as an Approach to Environmental Education: Lessons from a program focusing on non-indigenous, invasive species

Abstract: We used a social learning framework to evaluate the results of an extension education program focusing on non-indigenous, invasive species (NIS) in New York State. Sixteen teams of professional staff and volunteers from Cornell Cooperative Extension (CCE), The Nature Conservancy (TNC), and a land trust participated in a 2-day NIS workshop, following which they worked with local government agencies, schools, industry, and non-profit groups to implement 15 education and 7 management programs. Developing collaborative programs that address local needs is an important aspect of social learning and learning communities in extension education. However, the program lacked other elements of social learning, e.g. educators evaluating and sharing the results of their local efforts. The potential for using social learning theory, which previously has been applied to sustainable agriculture and natural resources management, in environmental education may be viewed in light of motivating factors, benefits, and challen...

The place of experience and the experience of place: Intersections between sustainability education and outdoor learning

Abstract: As social, economic and environmental issues have become more prominent in the 21st century, there has been increased critical scrutiny into the ways that outdoor learning interacts with sustainability issues and concepts. As a result, a number of discourses have emerged which interrogate human/nature relationships in traditional outdoor education and propose greater engagement with place-responsive or sustainable approaches. Drawing on research with teachers in Aotearoa New Zealand, this article explores possible intersections between sustainability education outdoor learning. Accordingly, this article focuses on two key ideas: First, the nexus of experience and place offers significant promise for educational endeavours that seek to educate for a sustainable future. Second, traditional conceptions of wilderness as a pedagogical site, can be problematic for outdoor education programs which seek to claim the ground of sustainability. While there is much that can be gained from journeys in remote pristine environments, not all of these experiences necessarily lead to the development of attitudes, understandings, skills, and motivation to live more sustainably. Furthermore, approaches to outdoor learning that seek to develop connection to and care for remote, pristine places, at the same time ignoring more local or impacted places, could present a dichotomous view of 'nature' to students, thereby disrupting efforts to educate for sustainability.