Environmental field days offer a distinct opportunity to connect students with science and the environment. The literature on field days, informed by research on field trips, provides a framework for best practices. If there are best practices, however, then presence or lack of the practice should have a discernible impact on the outcomes of the…

One view of environmental education suggests that its goal is to "develop a world population that ... has the knowledge, skills, attitudes, motivations and commitment to work individually and collectively towards solutions of current problems and the prevention of new ones" (UNESCO-UNEP 1976). Embedded within this charge is the teaching of skills…

This paper discusses three case studies--an exhibition on biodiversity, a hotel water conservation program, and a partnership between a nature center and urban public schools--to establish parameters for designing learning experiences that accommodate the varied worldviews and attitudes of learners. Positive outcomes occurred in all three cases,…

A national survey of 131 park and zoo educators' teaching beliefs was conducted in 14 parks and zoos in the United States in 1996. The Van Tilburg/Heimlich Teaching Beliefs Scale and a self-report time on task and importance of task were used. Outcomes showed that a preponderance of respondents would self-identify their beliefs to be…