We join scholars who criticize the Western separation of humans and the more-than-human (MtH) and believe that an emphasis on the MtH within students' local community is supported by repeated exposure. We take an ethnographic approach to study a collaborative program between a university, a local nonprofit, and a US public elementary school that…

Outdoor education programs are promoted to enhance connections between individuals and nature to foster pro-environmental behavior. However, behavioral change is a complex, and often difficult psychological process. This study aimed to determine if establishing nature clubs in schools could promote students' conservation behaviors by mitigating…

The emerging interest in "spaces of childhood" over the past two decades can be identified across numerous disciplines. A substantial body of research has indicated that children's active engagement within the natural environment is associated with a range of cognitive, physical, affective, and moral developmental benefits. Although…

Using a framework based on social cognitive career theory, we conducted 38 interviews and four focus groups with college students to identify motivations and barriers faced by underrepresented groups to natural resource careers. Interviews revealed career satisfaction as the most important goal for both natural resource and a comparison of liberal…

The reengagement of disenchanted secondary students is one of the priorities of the educational system. Over a six-year period (2003-2004 to 2008-2009), 63 disruptive and low-performance secondary school students were integrated into a two-year garden-based learning program, which took place in southeastern Spain. This article intends to assess…

We conducted a qualitative study of the experiences of 23 Outdoor Adventure Education (OAE) participants to determine what participants found significant about their course and to what course elements they attributed this significance. Participants experienced personal transformations, which they attributed to spending extended time in pristine…

In a survey of Canadian university students (N = 205), the relationship between majoring in an outdoor recreation university program and environmental concern, cooperation, and behavior were examined. Stepwise linear regression indicated that enrollment in outdoor recreation was predictive of environmental behavior and ecological cooperation; and…

The author examined the impact of environmental education lessons in a study that compared activities conducted in the schoolyard with traditional classroom activities involving elementary school boys and girls. Participants were 109 4th- and 5th-grade students. Researchers conducted a 2 (group: traditional/treatment) X 2 (gender) multivariate…

Significant life experience research suggests that outdoor experiences foster proenvironmental outcomes. Time spent outdoors is more frequently identified as the source of proenvironmental behavior than is education, suggesting that cognition may be less important than affect. Yet, environmental education field programs are often evaluated on…

Discusses a study which sought to determine the effects of gender on test scores from participants of a week-long environmental camp. An analysis of three years of data of student attitudes, knowledge, expectations, and perceptions indicated that females were lower on knowledge pre-tests but made greater gains between knowledge tests. (ML)

Reviews survey results which assessed possible long-term perceived benefits of Youth Conservation Corps participants. Mean score differences on ten scales showed a consistent pattern of small benefits for the accepted applicants as compared to the applicants who did not participate in the program. (ML)

Investigated whether a specific outdoor education program had any measurable impact on campers' environmental attitudes. Reports that all participants (N=613) had a positive experience but that the experimental treatment did not significantly influence attitudes. Includes the attitude instrument in the appendix. (ML)

Outdoor education has been defined as a five-step, multi-phasic experience: anticipation, travel-to-site, on-site, travel-from, and recollection. Examined 11 mood factors at each step using grade 6 students (N=31) involved in an outdoor program. Indicates that some attitudes (moods) did not change positively as a result of the outdoor experience.…

Describes a research effort to determine the effect of personal growth and development activities on secondary students' attitudes towards social issues while participating in an environmental studies program. Scores of one experimental group on the inventory of social issues posttest were significantly higher than those for the control group.…

Analyzed 34 environmental education studies published since 1974 that attempted to demonstrate changes in environmentally relevant knowledge, attitudes, or behaviors. Studies are divided into two major categories, in-class and out-of-class programs, and critiqued for findings and methodologies. Findings indicate that future research can refine…