title: Schärfung von Umwelteinstellung : Das Potenzial außerschulischer Lernorte
Creators: name: Baierl, Tessa-Marie
Publisher: name: University of Bayreuth
Year: 2022
Subjects: subject: Environmental attitude
subject: Earth education
subject: Earthkeepers
subject: pro-environmental behavior
subject: informal learning
subject: 570

description: Environmental conservation initiatives adhere to the consensus of a sustainable lifestyle, in which ecological, economical, and social goals resonate and induce persistent pro-environmental behavior (e.g. UN, 2015; UNESCO, 2003). Environmental education at schools thus aims at balancing those three goals so the standard of living and economic growth aligns with environmental preservation. This raises the question as how to promote conservation behavior ageappropriately through teaching. For decades, researchers have strived to derive antecedents of behavior through evaluating educational programs (e.g. Hines et al., 1987; Kollmuss &amp; Agyeman, 2002). Environmental knowledge is a well-known antecedent of environmental education, the latter aiming at pro-environmental behavior (e.g. Heimlich &amp; Ardoin, 2008). From a psychological perspective, environmental attitude has emerged as another established parameter (e.g. Ajzen, 1991; Bogner &amp; Wiseman, 2006; Kraus, 1995; Leeming et al., 1993) though there is yet no measurement standard. Conformity regarding its definition and measurement would however help modify educational programs to strengthen environmental attitude and provide teaching recommendations. This thesis therefore works towards a uniform concept of environmental attitude to derive recommendations for promoting nature conservation. To meet this purpose, five studies were conducted and students were the target group since schools can reach out to large cohorts, and since ages nine to 14 seem to be particularly sensitive to generate environmental attitude (e.g. Otto et al., 2019). Further, informal and outreach learning – including earth education, an established teaching approach in the US – appears to positively contribute to environmental attitude (e.g. Potvin &amp; Hasni, 2014; Rickinson, 2001; Van Matre, 1990). Study A (N = 227; MAge [SD] = 13.06 [1.01]) contrasted two environmental attitude variables: Science Motivation (Glynn et al., 2011) and Fascination with Science (Otto et al., 2020). It further evaluated the educational programs at Biosphere 2 in Arizona. The one-day interventions could induce environmental knowledge gains and reveal a positive effect of environmental attitude on knowledge. However, the attitude measurements turned out to be reliable but not valid. Due to the continuing Covid-pandemic, it was not possible to use alternative instruments or to evaluate a program modification based on pre- and post-program activities (study B) and further program changes. Therefore, study C elaborated on a preexisting, larger dataset (N = 6585; MAge [SD] = 9.96 [0.81]) about the extensive program Earthkeepers that has been evaluated for multiple years. The study compared established attitude scales (Two Major Environmental Values Model [2-MEV: Bogner &amp; Wiseman, 2002] and New Environmental Paradigm [Dunlap &amp; VanLiere, 1978]) and concluded recommendations for their use, which is mainly their focus on nature preservation as an attitude measurement. Finally, it related the parameters knowledge, attitude and behavior. Results showed that attitude significantly affected knowledge levels, while the latter resonated with pro-environmental behavior. Study D (N = 1592; MAge [SD] = 14.47 [1.78]) continued restructuring scales for a consensus on nature preservation as an expression of environmental attitude through complementing the 2- MEV’s opinion-based items with self-reports of past behaviors aimed at preserving the environment (General Ecological Behavior [Kaiser, 1998]). The modified scale sustained several quality tests and helped identify attitude’s role in knowledge acquisition. Attitude turned out to explain whether students take learning opportunities and how rigorously they learn. This situated attitude as a motivational force for knowledge acquisition. In a quality test, the scale further depicted the characteristic curve of environmental attitude throughout adolescence, which pointed at a sensitive period in which the formation of attitude primarily occurs. The same scale was used in a new context in study E (N = 247; MAge [SD] = 9.38 [0.51]). In a reciprocal process, the outreach setting Cooper Center was evaluated, while the attitude scale was confirmed through the learning progress of an educational program that has proven successful in study C. Concurrently, as argued in study D, study E confirmed attitude’s role in knowledge acquisition as a factor of conservation behavior. In conclusion, all evaluated informal, educational programs show potential for environmental education through knowledge, attitude, or behavior changes. Effects are stronger if programs are embedded in pre and post activities. Meanwhile, the environmental attitude scale introduced in study D demonstrates robust validity, reliability, and inter-study comparability to serve as a measurement standard. Moreover, it appears recommendable to strengthen environmental attitude primarily until middle school. Further studies are needed to investigate age-related attitude-trends and to determine precise parameters for enhancing environmental attitude. Those should help develop more concrete curricular guidelines and transmit those findings to teaching in the traditional classroom setting.