The objectives of this study were to (a) determine preservice educators' perceptions of forest health, (b) define the experiences which may have influenced their understanding, and (c) identify the approaches they might use to convey forest health information. Twelve interviews were conducted with preservice science and agriculture education…

Large distances and small budgets had made it challenging for Florida Project Learning Tree (PLT) to conduct in-person workshops with volunteer 4-H leaders to disseminate the PreK-8 guide. An online version of a PLT workshop was developed to overcome these barriers. Formative evaluation data suggested that the program effectively introduced PLT to…

Requiring teachers to partake in environmental education (EE) may generate negative reactions since elementary teachers can be overloaded with meeting standards and student performance goals. This study explores teachers' attitudes toward a required EE program, Lagoon Quest. We compare attitudes among teachers with and without prior Lagoon Quest,…

As environmental education strives to create an informed citizenry capable of addressing complex problems, critical thinking is an integral part of this effort. This research guides environmental educators in defining, teaching, and evaluating critical thinking by summarizing a pilot study with an undergraduate forest issues course designed to…

Environmental education (EE) includes a broad range of teaching methods, topics, audiences, and educators. EE professionals have worked over the last 30 years to provide distinct definitions, guides, objectives, and standards that will help educators know how to differentiate environmental education from other educational efforts and how to…

A statewide environmental education (EE) grants program operated in Florida from 1990 to 2003. Interviews of grant recipients were undertaken to explore and describe the contributions of these funded projects to EE in the state. This report of the descriptive review presents and summarizes findings from these interviews. Grant funds increased the…

Fire is a challenge in the wildland-urban interface. Although resource managers encourage residents to create defensible space, many do not. This study illustrates the value of using a needs assessment to better understand perceptions of an audience in order to develop meaningful messages and materials. In this case, our audience is residents of…

Offers guidelines for choosing a structured open-ended interview as a tool in program evaluation. Provides three cases to demonstrate how interviews can be used to gather important evaluative information. (DDR)