Trudi L. Volk

Changing Learner Behavior Through Environmental Education

(1990). Changing Learner Behavior Through Environmental Education. The Journal of Environmental Education: Vol. 21, No. 3, pp. 8-21.

Environmental Education in the K-12 Curriculum: Finding a Niche

Abstract Significant progress has been made in the United States in including the environment in government, business, household, and individual decisionmaking. Unfortunately, there is no parallel trend in the nations K-12 schools. This article reviews the basic precepts of environmental education, summarizes state-level efforts directed at its establishment, and makes suggestions for systematically incorporating it into the K-12 curriculum.

The National Environmental Literacy Project: A Baseline Study of Middle Grade Students in the United States

The authors discuss environmental literacy in the United States and present a brief summary of the results of a major national study designed to attain a baseline measure of environmental literacy among middle school students in the United States The authors include events that led up to the study and desctibe future directions for environmental literacy assessment.

Effects of an Extended Case Study on Environmental Behavior and Associated Variables in Seventh-and Eighth-Grade Students

Abstract The authors assessed the effects of an extended case study that focused on wetland issues with 7th and 8th graders. The extended case study is an instructional method that incorporates the issue investigation-evaluation and action training model. A modified pretest-posttest nonequivalent control group design was used with 15 intact classes from Illinois and Missouri. Posttest data were collected on the following variables: overt environmental behavior, knowledge of ecological foundations, individual locus of control, group locus of control, knowledge of citizenship action skills, and perceived skill in use of citizenship action skills.

The Influence of an Extensive Inquiry-Based Field Experience on Pre-Service Elementary Student Teachers' Science Teaching Beliefs.

This study examined the effects of an extensive inquiry-based field experience on pre service elementary teachers’ personal agency beliefs, a composite measure of context beliefs and capability beliefs related to teaching science. The research combined quantitative and qualitative approaches and included an experimental group that utilized the inquiry method and a control group that used traditional teaching methods. Pre- and post-test scores for the experimental and control groups were compared. The context beliefs of both groups showed no significant change as a result of the experience. However, the control group’s capability belief scores, lower than those of the experimental group to start with, declined significantly; the experimental group’s scores remained unchanged. Thus, the inquiry-based field experience led to an increase in personal agency beliefs. The qualitative data suggested a new hypothesis that there is a spiral relationship among teachers’ ability to establish communicative relationships with students, desire for personal growth and improvement, ability to implement multiple instructional strategies, and possession of substantive content knowledge. The study concludes that inquiry-based student teaching should be encouraged in the training of elementary school science teachers. However, the meaning and practice of the inquiry method should be clearly delineated to ensure its correct implementation in the classroom.

A Technique for Analyzing Environmental Issues

Abstract Teaching students to deal with issues appears to be a major component of environmental education. However, complex environmental issues are often confusing for students. The issue analysis technique presented here allows learners to organize information about an issue in a sound conceptual framework.

The Identification of Empirically Derived Goals for Program Development in Environmental Interpretation

Abstract A broad framework of goals for environmental interpretation was produced, and these goals were revised and validated on the basis of input from a national panel of interpretive experts. Several tasks were accomplished. First, an intensive review of interpretive literature was conducted that produced over 100 principles, goals, and objectives in interpretation. An analysis of the key words and phrases used in these principles, goals, and objectives yielded categories of directives for environmental interpretation. A review of research studies related to environmental behavior paradigms was conducted. Following this review, the Hungerford and Volk (1990) model of variables involved in responsible environmental behavior was used as the basis for a framework for environmental interpretation goals related to behavior change. This integration produced an initial set of Goals for Program Development in Environmental Interpretation. The goals comprised 3 hierarchical levels: entry-level goals, ownership ...