Effects of a One-day Environmental Education Program on Sixth-Graders’ Environmental Literacy at a Nature Center in Eastern Taiwan
Abstract
:1. Introduction
- (1)
- To assess the immediate effects of the one-day Black Bear Detectives program on sixth-graders’ environmental knowledge, attitudes, responsibility, and locus of control.
- (2)
- To perform an assessment one month after the end of the program for determining the continuous effects of the program on students’ environmental knowledge, attitudes, responsibility, locus of control, and environmental action.
1.1. Characteristics of Games and Role Play in Environmental Education
1.2. Effectiveness Evaluation of Games and Role Play Teaching Approaches
1.3. Pedagogical Factors Affecting Effectiveness in Environmental Education
2. Materials and Methods
2.1. Design and Participants
2.2. Instrument
2.3. Treatments
3. Results
3.1. Assessing the Immediate Effects of the Program
3.2. Assessing the Continuous Effects of the Program
4. Discussion
4.1. Effects on Affective Learning Outcomes and Environmental Action
4.2. Effects on Environmental Knowledge
5. Limitations
6. Conclusions
Author Contributions
Funding
Acknowledgments
Conflicts of Interest
References
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Unit Name | Session Duration | Location |
---|---|---|
1. Forest Rangers | 60 Minutes | Forest |
Primary objectives: Environmental knowledge, environmental attitudes | ||
Teaching content: Provide students with an introduction to Taiwanese endemic species, the behaviors of Formosan black bears, problems concerning invasive species, and the function of forests (such as the reduction of flooding, droughts, and global warming) in order to impress upon them the importance of forests to wildlife and humans. | ||
Teaching method: The teacher first instructs students to play the role of forest rangers and assigns group tasks for them to complete, such as species recognition and news report error identification, before providing explanations. The teacher uses local stories, outdoor observation, mudslide simulation experiment, and interpretative board to interpret the function of the forest. | ||
2. Formosan Black Bear Threats | 60 Minutes | Audio-Visual Room and Performance Stage |
Primary objectives: Environmental knowledge, environmental attitudes | ||
Teaching content: Broadcast the 15-min film by the Taiwan Black Bear Conservation Association titled “Formosan Black Bear Conservation Documentary” to strengthen students’ understanding of the behaviors of Formosan black bears, and then discuss the threats that poaching and habitat destruction pose to the survival of Formosan black bears. | ||
Teaching method: This unit first highlights students’ awareness of the survival crisis of Formosan black bears and then invites students to play the roles of Formosan black bears, illegal merchants, law enforcement officers, and poachers in a role play session designed to strengthen students’ positive impressions of conservation work for Formosan black bears. | ||
3. Guardians of Black Bears | 60 Minutes | Outdoor Patio, Forest |
Primary objectives: Locus of control, environmental responsibility | ||
Teaching content: Observe distribution patterns of Formosan black bears and discuss the importance of habitat integrity in black bear conservation. Students are able to understand that the efforts of a few cannot achieve black bear conservation and that instead, the full participation of an environmentally literate general public is necessary. | ||
Teaching method: Each group is a sovereign country in the game session. Students can play the roles of presidents, scholars, students, and legislators and must work together in using bamboo sticks (representing habitats) to escort Formosan black bears (represented by a ball) to a safe zone. | ||
4. Black Bears and Forests | 60 Minutes | Grassland |
Primary objectives: Environmental attitudes | ||
Teaching content: Study the behaviors of Formosan black bears and their contributions to the ecosystem, thereby promoting students’ conservation awareness and attitudes regarding Taiwan’s forests and Formosan black bears. | ||
Teaching method: The teacher is a narrator and recites a passage to participants detailing the Formosan black bears’ behaviors. Students playing as Formosan black bears respond to the narration by performing gestures and actions. Upon conclusion, the teacher plays the role of a biologist specializing in Formosan black bears and gives a presentation on threats to the Formosan black bear’s survival and how Formosan black bears contribute to forest renewal. Finally, the teacher holds an arts and crafts workshop for students to make bear-themed keychain accessories. Students are then invited to become advocates of Formosan black bears and forest conservation. | ||
5.Black Bear Cub Going Home | 60 Minutes | Aerobics Classroom |
Primary objectives: Environmental responsibility, environmental action | ||
Teaching content: Form connections between students’ everyday behaviors and Formosan black bears and forest conservation in order to enhance students’ pro-environmental behavior. | ||
Teaching method: Students first use picture cards to learn about improper behaviors that harm forests and black bears. These behaviors form picture cards for the follow-up activity. The teacher randomly inserts cards representing improper behaviors into the base map laid out on the classroom floor. Students must work in teams to avoid the cards (representing threats) and escort the black bear cub back to safety in their forest habitat. After the game is finished, the teacher tells stories and uses role play to connect students’ improper behaviors with forest and black bear conservation. |
Variables | Pretest | Posttest | F Ratio | p-Value | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Mean | SD | Mean | SD | |||
Preservation attitudes | ||||||
Experimental group | 3.59 | 0.93 | 3.95 | 0.87 | 2.132 | 0.146 |
Control group | 3.69 | 0.87 | 3.87 | 0.76 | ||
Utilization attitudes | ||||||
Experimental group | 4.02 | 0.57 | 4.37 | 0.63 | 16.960 | 0.000 ** |
Control group | 4.12 | 0.53 | 4.17 | 0.55 | ||
Environmental responsibility | ||||||
Experimental group | 4.13 | 0.58 | 4.25 | 0.68 | 2.357 | 0.127 |
Control group | 4.25 | 0.56 | 4.23 | 0.59 | ||
Locus of control | ||||||
Experimental group | 4.04 | 0.56 | 4.24 | 0.66 | 7.226 | 0.008 ** |
Control group | 4.05 | 0.59 | 4.05 | 0.60 | ||
Environmental knowledge | ||||||
Experimental group | 62.48 | 15.08 | 81.28 | 13.92 | 87.279 | 0.000 ** |
Control group | 63.56 | 15.80 | 65.36 | 14.52 |
Variables | Pretest | Follow-Up Test | F Ratio | p Value | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Mean | SD | Mean | SD | |||
Preservation attitudes | ||||||
Experimental group | 3.59 | 0.93 | 3.97 | 0.84 | 4.130 | 0.044 * |
Control group | 3.69 | 0.87 | 3.82 | 0.79 | ||
Utilization attitudes | ||||||
Experimental group | 4.02 | 0.57 | 4.28 | 0.60 | 14.580 | 0.000 ** |
Control group | 4.12 | 0.53 | 4.07 | 0.60 | ||
Environmental responsibility | ||||||
Experimental group | 4.13 | 0.58 | 4.24 | 0.67 | 13.270 | 0.000 ** |
Control group | 4.25 | 0.56 | 4.03 | 0.62 | ||
Locus of control | ||||||
Experimental group | 4.04 | 0.56 | 4.23 | 0.66 | 20.479 | 0.000 ** |
Control group | 4.05 | 0.59 | 3.86 | 0.65 | ||
Environmental knowledge | ||||||
Experimental group | 62.48 | 15.08 | 75.76 | 16.00 | 64.106 | 0.000 ** |
Control group | 63.56 | 15.80 | 61.48 | 15.32 | ||
Environmental action | ||||||
Experimental group | 3.46 | 0.64 | 3.71 | 0.75 | 13.156 | 0.000 ** |
Control group | 3.64 | 0.69 | 3.56 | 0.67 |
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Pan, C.-T.; Hsu, S.-J. Effects of a One-day Environmental Education Program on Sixth-Graders’ Environmental Literacy at a Nature Center in Eastern Taiwan. Sustainability 2020, 12, 5043. https://doi.org/10.3390/su12125043
Pan C-T, Hsu S-J. Effects of a One-day Environmental Education Program on Sixth-Graders’ Environmental Literacy at a Nature Center in Eastern Taiwan. Sustainability. 2020; 12(12):5043. https://doi.org/10.3390/su12125043
Chicago/Turabian StylePan, Chung-Ting, and Shih-Jang Hsu. 2020. "Effects of a One-day Environmental Education Program on Sixth-Graders’ Environmental Literacy at a Nature Center in Eastern Taiwan" Sustainability 12, no. 12: 5043. https://doi.org/10.3390/su12125043