KAEE’s 48th Annual Conference | Forging Paths for Environmental Education: Community, Conversations, and Creativity
Title Sponsor: Morehead State University | Drs. Ernst and Sara Lane Volgenau College of Education
Land Acknowledgement Morehead State University and the surrounding area are located on the traditional lands of the Yuchee, Shawnee, and Eastern Band of Cherokee. Indigenous peoples have lived on the land we now call Kentucky for over 12,000 years. We want to acknowledge the deep history of this land and the people who still live here today. To learn more about this land and the land you call home, visit native-land.ca.
With a spotlight on the current and worsening environmental crisis, a positive attitude toward the environment, and the skills and confidence to actively protect it are necessary to make progress in conservation of important ecosystems like the Ohio River valley. One tool well suited to cultivate these attitudes and skills is environmental education which allows students to explore, engage, and act on environmental issues. Through this active process, goals include increasing students’ awareness of their environment, comfort in being outdoors, empathy toward their immediate environment, and students’ skills in using environmental action strategies. Thomas More University Biology Field Station offers several different environmental education experiences. The mission is “To educate and engage our visitors about the ecological and cultural value of the Ohio River and its watershed and to empower them to take action to protect them.” The purpose of this study is threefold: measure the cognitive impact of discipline related content, the psychomotor skills acquired, and cultivation of affective behaviors and attitude towards Ohio River conservation. There are two research questions for the study: do environmental education programs increase student knowledge on presented topics; and do environmental education programs positively shift emotional, behavioral, and attitude measurements on presented topics, conservation in general, and potential for future environmental action. Outcomes of the study provide guidance on best practice for deepening understanding and sparking a catalyst for change.
