Transcript RESEARCH-BASED ADVOCACY FOR ENVIRONMENTAL …

National Public Attention

Richard Louv, Last Child in the Woods
 research from a variety of disciplines
 indicated all people need the opportunity to connect
with nature
 continues to fuel a national advocacy movement.
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Back to School, Back Outside
 Healthy Lifestyles for children
 Well-rounded students
 Using the outdoors to create high performance
learners
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‘Environmental Literacy’ in President’s budget
proposal
Policy Potential
The No Child Left Inside Act (S.1372
and H.R.2547)
 State Mandated Environmental Literacy
Plans and Standards
 Providing factual demonstration of the
benefits of EE to inspire movement in
positive directions
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Research and Advocacy
Advocacy Utilizing Available Data
 Draw from existing research and extrapolate
findings to your case
 Document the outcomes of your own work
Advocate for more
supporting research!
Research and Advocacy
Considerations
 Audience
 Needs
 Anecdotal evidence is generally not
sufficient
 But make a personal
connection to the
work you do
Some Current Citations –
Healthy Lifestyles
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Hofferth, S. L. & Sandberg, J. F., “How American
Children Spend Their Time” (2001)
Hofferth, S.L. & S.C. Curtin, “Changes in Children’s
Time, 1997-2002/3: An Update” (2006)
 From 1997-2003, the number of children in the United
States ages nine to twelve engaging in outdoor activities
such as hiking, walking, fishing, beach play and gardening
declined 50%. Our nation’s youth are spending less time
outside than at any time in our nation’s history.
 Children under 13 living in the United States
spend on average only about half an hour
of unstructured time outdoors each week
Some Current Citations –
Healthy Lifestyles
Kaiser Family Foundation, “Zero to Six:
Electronic Media in the Lives of Infants,
Toddlers and Preschoolers” (2005).
 Kaiser Family Foundation , “Generation M2:
Media in the lives of 8 to 18 year olds” (2010).
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 our children are spending less
than half the time out of doors
that their parents did growing up
 children are spending as much
as 7.5 hours a day in front of
electronic media
Some Current Citations –
Physical and Mental Health
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Coon JT, et al, “Does Participating in Physical Activity in
Outdoor Natural Environments Have a Greater Effect on
Physical and Mental Wellbeing than Physical Activity Indoors? A
Systematic Review” (2011).
 Exercising in natural environments was associated with greater feelings
of revitalization and positive engagement, decreases in tension,
confusion, anger, depression, and increased energy. Participants also
reported greater enjoyment and satisfaction with outdoor activity and
declared a greater intent to repeat the activity
Dyment, Janet E., "Grounds for Action:
Promoting Physical Activity through School
Ground Greening in Canada" (2006)
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 Children who experience school grounds or
play areas with diverse natural settings are more
physically active, more aware of good nutrition,
more creative, and more civil to one another.
Some Current Citations –
Social Justice
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Committee on Environmental Health, “The
Built Environment: Designing Communities
to Promote Physical Activity in Children”
Pediatrics, (2009).
 Many low-income and minority children are
often more cut-off from
nature due to the built
environment around them:
poor housing conditions,
high-volume traffic, and a
lack of parks and green space
Some Current Citations –
Environmental Literacy
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NEETF/Roper Starch Surveys - NEETF, 1999
and 2005
 Most Americans believe they
know more about the
environment than they actually do
 Only 3 out of 10 Americans can
pass a quiz on basic
environmental knowledge
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McBeth, W. & Volk, T. L. (2010). The national
environmental literacy project: A baseline
study of middle grade students in the United
States.
 Baseline data on student knowledge, skills, affect,
and behavior
Some Current Citations –
Attention Deficit Disorder
Taylor, Andrea Faber; Frances E. Kuo; and William
C. Sullivan, “Coping with ADD: The Surprising
Connection to Green Play Settings.” (2001).
 Taylor, Andrea Faber; Frances E. Kuo; and William
C. Sullivan. "Views of Nature and Self- Discipline:
Evidence from Inner City Children." (2001)
 Kuo, F.E. & Taylor, A.F. (2004). A potential natural
treatment for attention-deficit/hyperactivity
disorder: Evidence form a national study.
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 Green outdoor settings appear to reduce ADHD
symptoms in children across a wide range of individual,
residential, and case characteristics.
 Children with attention-deficit disorder (ADD) benefited
from more exposure to nature –the greener a child’s
everyday environment, the more manageable are the
symptoms of ADD
Some Current Citations –
Academic Achievement
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Archie, M., “Advancing Education through
Environmental Literacy” (2003).
 EE offers opportunities for rich, hands-on, real
world and relevant learning across the curriculum
 Environment-based education
emphasizes specific critical thinking
skills central to “good science”—
questioning, investigating, forming
hypotheses, interpreting data,
analyzing, developing
conclusions, and solving problems
Some Current Citations –
Academic Achievement
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Lieberman, G.A. & Hoody, L.L., “Closing the Achievement Gap: Using
the Environment as an Integrating Context for Learning. State
Education and Environment Roundtable” (1998)
 Improved performance on standardized
measures of academic achievement in reading,
writing, math, science, and social studies
 Reduced discipline and classroom
management problems
 Greater enthusiasm for language arts,
math, science, and social studies
 Better ability to apply science
to real-world situations
 Greater proficiency in solving problems
and thinking strategically
 Better application of systems thinking and
increased ability to think creatively
 More advanced skills in applying civic
processes to real-life situations
Some Current Citations –
Teacher Responses
National Wildlife Fund Online Survey of 1878
teachers, ‘Back to School: Back Outside’ (2010)
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78% Strongly Agreed -- Children who spend regular time
in unstructured outdoor play are better able to
concentrate and perform better in the classroom
82% Strongly Agreed -- Students need daily unstructured
outdoor time as a counterbalance to the significant time
spent indoors in front of electronic media
75% Strongly Agreed -- Students
who spend regular time outdoors
tend to be more creative and better
able to problem solve in the
classroom
Some Current Citations –
Environmental Attitudes

Wells, N. and K. Lekies, “Nature and the Life Course:
Pathways from Childhood Nature Experiences to Adult
Environmentalism.” Children, Youth and Environments
16(1): 1-24 (2006).
 participation with “wild” nature before age 11 is a particularly
potent pathway toward shaping both environmental attitudes and
behaviors in adulthood.
 childhood play in nature is associated with recycling, buying
green products, voting green, and the choice of natural areas for
recreation in adulthood.
 Neither childhood participation in
environmental education nor
childhood experiences in nature with
other people had significant effects on
adult environmental behaviors
Some Current Citations –
Promoting Learning and Citizenry
The North American Association for Environmental Education (NAAEE) and The
National Environmental Education and Training Foundation (NEETF), “Using
Environment-Based Education to Advance Learning Skills and Character
Development”. Washington, DC: NAAEE and NEETF (2001).
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Environmental education emphasizes cooperative learning (i.e.,
working in teams or with partners), critical thinking and discussion,
hands-on activities, and a focus on action strategies with real-world
applications.
Hands-on experiences in local communities help students develop a
sense of connectedness and stewardship, making school learning
relevant and interesting.
EE provides opportunities for students to
develop and practice leadership skills such as:
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Working in teams
Listening to and accepting diverse opinions
Solving real-world problems
Taking the long-term view
Promoting actions that serve the larger good
Connecting with the community
Additional Resources
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NEEF – www.neefusa.org and
http://www.eeweek.org/pdf/EE_Benefits.pdf
Louise Chawla’s Fact Sheets
http://www.ucdenver.edu/academics/colleges/Archit
ecturePlanning/discover/centers/CYE/Publications/
Pages/FactSheets.aspx
NWF Back to School: Back Outside http://www.nwf.org/~/media/PDFs/Be%20Out%20T
here/Back%20to%20School%20full%20report.ashx
Children and Nature Network http://www.childrenandnature.org/research/
NAAEE - http://eelinked.naaee.net/n/eeresearch
On the Reasons for and Limits of
‘Cherry Picking’
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One way of looking at the research literature is as a source
of confirming or supporting evidence.
This often involves the search for, selection of, and
promotion of, one or a small number of studies that provide
such evidence and that have established credibility.
One reason this happens is to fill the need to justify or
defend programming decisions.
A second is the absence of credible reviews of the wider
research that may have a bearing on this.
A third is a gap between the knowledge/skills (a) required to
conduct such a review vs. (b) available within/to a program.
One major limitation of the aforementioned approach is the
inattention to studies that do not provide supporting
evidence.
A Differing Perspective from
the Research Arena
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A traditional view of research is that its primary purpose is to
generate knowledge (both theoretical and practical).
In very general terms, single studies contribute to the
knowledge base of the field.
Some single studies may provide confirming, mixed, or even
‘negative’ results regarding the effects or effectiveness of
certain EE approaches (e.g., effects of environment-based
approaches on academic achievement: + Athman; - Clavijo)
From a research perspective, what is needed is a careful
review of the widest possible range of relevant and credible
studies.
Broad reviews allow researchers to detect patterns in and
draw conclusions from the wider body of available evidence.
A Research Initiative in This Vein
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Late in 2009, Tom Ackerman (CBF) approached
and then worked with me to initiate a review of
research pertinent to NCLI (i.e., EE approached
that made use of outdoor/community settings).
This initial review was conducted over Spring
2010. Criteria for selecting intervention-andoutcome studies were set and used to select 47
studies from 8 published reviews of EE research.
Due to the limited number of studies located, an
extended search was conducted.
The initial results were reported to CBF and
presented at NAAEE in 2010.
‘Next Steps’ Suggested in 2010
1.
2.
3.
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5.
Refine and expand search for studies that meet
selection criteria
Merge all studies for each Cluster of EE
Approach into a single list, and segment list for
Specific EE Approaches
Review research methodology and outcomes for
studies in each list
Refine and expand charting of studies for each
Cluster and Specific EE Approach
Dissemination of these products
An Evolving Research Initiative
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In Spring 2011, Todd Harwell (UGS at FIT) began to
merge studies from the three sections of the
bibliography that pertained to each ‘intervention’ (EE
instructional approach) into a master list. He completed
this for “A. Field Natural History and Ecology’.
In August 2011, he was joined by Yan Zhu and Melissa
Daniel (new UGSs at FIT). Together, they have begun to
analyze and prepare results from two more reviews of
EE research (Voelker et al. ‘73; Hines et al. ‘86-’87)
Once they complete this, these results will be added to
the initial bibliography, and these grad students will
continue to prepare these merged master lists.
These drafts will be reviewed by other researchers,
such as Rebecca Franzen (PhD student at NIU).