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Effects of a 1-day environmental education intervention on environmental attitudes and connectedness with nature

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Abstract

Besides cognitive learning effects, short-term environmental education (EE) is often regarded as ineffective in intervening with participants' environmental attitudes and behaviour. However, in Germany, school classes often participate in such 1-day EE programmes because they better match the school curriculum in contrast to longer (residential) programmes. We therefore monitored a 1-day outreach EE programme on global climate change to reveal whether environmental attitudes and/or connectedness with nature of tenth graders are affected. Students from German high schools (college preparatory secondary school level, ‘Gymnasium’) (N = 114) from age 14 to 19 participated in the programme (treatment group). It consisted of two student-centred learning units on the topic of climate change. Additionally, we chose a control group of students who did not participate in the programme. To measure students' environmental attitudes and connectedness with nature, we administered the Two Major Environmental Values (2-MEV) and the Inclusion of Nature in Self scale in a pre-, post- and retention test design. The pre-test was administered 1 week before, the post-test directly after and the retention test 4 to 6 weeks after programme participation. Analyses revealed a positive long-term effect only for utilitarian values (one of the two major environmental factors of 2-MEV) which decreased significantly. Therefore, depending on the programme's content, short-term EE programmes indeed may have an influence on participants' environmental attitudes.

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Notes

  1. A persistent knowledge gain is measurable not only directly after programme participation but also in follow-up tests.

  2. System knowledge comprises basic knowledge about a certain topic, e.g. climate change (‘The production of energy through burning of fossil fuels leads to greenhouse gas emissions.’). Action-related knowledge concerns the available behavioural options (‘Energy saving is a way to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and helps mitigate climate change.’). Effectiveness knowledge qualifies to assess how effective a behaviour might be (‘The use of energy-saving lamps needs five times less energy than that of an electric bulb.’).

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biology Education, University of Bayreuth, Universitaetsstrasse 30, 95448, Bayreuth, Germany

    Daniela Sellmann & Franz X. Bogner

Authors
  1. Daniela Sellmann
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  2. Franz X. Bogner
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Daniela Sellmann.

Additional information

Daniela Sellmann. University of Bayreuth, Department of Biology Education, Universitaetsstrasse 30, 95448 Bayreuth, E-mail: daniela.sellmann@uni-bayreuth.de; Web site: http://www.bayceer.uni-bayreuth.de/didaktik-bio/

Current themes of research:

Environmental education. Environmental attitudes. Students' conceptions.

Most relevant publications:

Sellmann D., & Bogner, F. X. (2012). Climate change education: Quantitatively assessing the impact of a botanical garden as an informal learning environment. Environmental Education Research, 1–15.

Sellmann, D., & Bogner, F. X. (2012). Education in global climate change at a botanical garden: Students’ perceptions and inquiry-based learning. In W. Leal Filho (Ed.), Climate Change Management. Climate Change and the Sustainable Use of Water Resources (pp. 779–786). Berlin Heidelberg: Springer.

Franz X. Bogner. University of Bayreuth, Department of Biology Education, Universitaetsstrasse 30, 95448 Bayreuth, E-mail: franz.bogner@uni-bayreuth.de; Web site: http://www.bayceer.uni-bayreuth.de/didaktik-bio/

Current themes of research:

Measurement of (environmental) attitudes. Knowledge structure within environmental education. Environmental behaviour.

Most relevant publications:

Bogner, F. X. (2002). The influence of a residential outdoor education programme to pupil's environmental perception. European Journal of Psychology of Education, 17(1), 19–34.

Bogner, F. X., & Wiseman, M. (1999). Toward measuring adolescent environmental perception. European Psychologist, 4(3), 139–151.

Bogner, F. X., & Wiseman, M. (2002). Environmental perception of pupils from France and four European regions. Journal of Psychology of Education, 17(1), 3–18.

Bogner, F. X., & Wiseman, M. (2004). Outdoor ecology education and pupil's environmental perception in preservation and utilization. Science Education International, 15(1), 27–48.

Bogner, F. X., & Wiseman, M. (2006). Adolescents' attitudes towards nature and environment: Quantifying the 2-MEV model. The Environmentalist, 26, 247–254.

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Sellmann, D., Bogner, F.X. Effects of a 1-day environmental education intervention on environmental attitudes and connectedness with nature. Eur J Psychol Educ 28, 1077–1086 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10212-012-0155-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10212-012-0155-0

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