Document Type
Honors Thesis
Major
Parks, Recreation, and Tourism
Advisor(s)
Jessica Leahy
Committee Members
Lauren Jacobs, John Daigle
Graduation Year
December 2024
Publication Date
Winter 1-2025
Abstract
Environmental education (EE) can help develop many skills, including problem solving, critical thinking, and decision making, but these skills can be difficult to measure as educators. Although there is often some form of evaluation in many EE programs, this is typically done through surveys and limits direct feedback from participants, especially young students who are unable to read or write a cohesive response yet. This paper explores the development of an evaluation tool that would allow environmental educators to get direct feedback from young participants on what they learned during a lesson. Before the tool was developed and tested, we first conducted qualitative interviews with environmental educators from across the country to learn about methods that were already being used, and to learn some tips from professionals who do this every day. The evaluation tool was then developed and tested on a group of 14 first-grade students in Maine, and it consisted of a pre- and post-lesson assessment which involved students moving around the classroom to show what they learned. This tool is unique because it would allow environmental educators to collect quantitative data from participants, something that is currently lacking in this field. Also, this tool could be adapted to fit the needs of many different groups, not just young participants, and it would allow for aggregate data to be collected and compared to improve future EE programs. This tool was tested for two different lessons. The results from the first lesson showed that students were able to comprehend the lesson and retain what was being taught. The results from the second lesson showed less change in the participant’s knowledge, meaning that the lesson likely needs some changes in the future. Adoption of this evaluation tool by environmental educators would allow organizations to improve their lesson plans, find new ways to teach participants about the natural world, and evaluate their effectiveness even among non-reader EE participants.
Recommended Citation
Frager, Laini, "Evaluating Environmental Education with Non-Readers" (2025). Honors College. 905.
https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/honors/905
