Improving Test Scores Through Environmental Education: Is It Possible?

An exploration of future trends in environmental education research

“…Bartosh, Tudor, and Ferguson 2006;Lieberman and Hoody 1998); character development, leadership, and other life skills, which may result from EE programming (e.g. Stern, Powell, and Ardoin 2010); significant life experiences leading to interest in environmental action and career choice (e.g.…”

“…Bartosh, Tudor, and Ferguson 2006;Lieberman and Hoody 1998); character development, leadership, and other life skills, which may *Corresponding author. Email: nmardoin@stanford.edu Environmental Education Research, 2013 Vol.…”

The Seeds of Learning: Young Children Develop Important Skills Through Their Gardening Activities at a Midwestern Early Education Program

“…Existing research describes the benefits of garden-based activities for elementary age chil- Table 1 Key Benefits of Positive Experiences with the Natural World • increased concern for the environment (Palmer, 1993) • increased sense of wonder and imagination (Cobb, 1977;Wilson, 1997) • improved ability to concentrate (children with ADD) (Taylor et al, 2001) • increased powers of observation and creativity (Crain, 2001) • increased motivation for life-long learning (Wilson, 1997) • improved awareness, reasoning, and observational skills (Pyle, 2002) • improved personal skills including confidence, social skills, self-efficacy (Dillon, et al 2005) • reduced stress/greater ability to deal with adversity (Wells & Evans, 2003) • increased language and collaborative skills (Moore & Wong, 1997) • increased development of senses (Louv, 2005) • increased knowledge and understanding of geographical, ecological or food production process (Dillon et al, 2005) • increased analytical, problem-solving, and critical thinking skills, and integration of math, science, language arts, social sciences, and other subjects (Bartosh et al, 2006) • increased interest in healthy foods/eating fruits/vegetables (Cavaliere, 1987;Lineberger, 1999;Pothukuchi, 2004) • improved physical well-being through better quality play and increased motivation to exercise and eat more healthily (Rickinson, et al, 2004) • increased physical and mental well-being, ability to identify and work toward personal goals (children with behavioral problems or attention issues) (Thrive, 2006) • increased positive attitudes about environmental issues (Waliczek & Zajicek, 1999) • increased scores on environmental attitude surveys (elementary children) (Skelly & Zajicek, 1998) • improved numeracy and literacy skills and knowledge of the environment (Thrive, 2006) • increased interpersonal relationships and positive attitudes about school with garden-based programming (Waliczek et al, 2001) • increased awareness of nature's beauty and power (Heffernan, 1994) • increased scores on science achievement scores (compared to students without garden-based learning activities) …”

Effectiveness of Environmental Education on Environmental Knowledge of Kindergarten Children in Rasht City

“…Environmental education aims to provide opportunities to engage in exploratory learning in order to develop environmental awareness, knowledge, values, attitudes, and skills needed to make informed and responsible choices that protect human health and the environment [9]; Attitudes toward environmental issues become critically important in the early years of life [10]. In the 2000s, scholars suggested that environmental education was effective in improving academic achievement among students in grades K-12 [11]. For example, in one of the largest studies, Lieberman, Hoody, and Lieberman (2005) randomly assigned four schools into environmental education groups with four matching control groups [12].…”