A goal of environmental education (EE) is to help instill environmental stewardship in students for the future. Hungerford and Volk (1990) believe environmental stewardship is changing behaviors, values, or beliefs related to human-environment interaction. It is important for people to learn about environmental concepts at a young age, so they will care about them in the future. Eastern Kentucky University’s (EKU) Division of Natural Areas has been conducting EE programming for students K-12 for the past 13 years. The areas utilized for EE programming include Maywoods Environmental and Educational Laboratory in Garrard County, KY or Lilley Cornett Woods Appalachian Ecological Research Station in Letcher County, KY. Over the years, the curriculum has been updated to improve student engagement and meet the Next Generation Science Standards. The current facilitation of EE programs does not include an assessment of teachers’ perceptions. The purpose of this project is to assess the perceptions of teachers whose classes participate in the EE programs at EKU’s Natural Areas. After students visited and participated in EE programs, their teachers were emailed a survey to assess their perceptions of the EE programs. For instance, if the teachers believe the programs fit into school curriculum, if the teachers feel as if the station leaders were prepared and knowledgeable of the material taught, and if the teachers have any suggestions on changes or improvements to the programs. The results from the survey were positive, but some results suggest EE programming could be improved in some areas. For instance, providing interdisciplinary EE lessons or having more dates for teachers to choose from could be improvements made. The next steps in this research project could be to continue surveying teachers over several semesters and years, and to evaluate the effect of programming on the students.
","abstract_html":"<p>A goal of environmental education (EE) is to help instill environmental stewardship in students for the future. Hungerford and Volk (1990) believe environmental stewardship is changing behaviors, values, or beliefs related to human-environment interaction. It is important for people to learn about environmental concepts at a young age, so they will care about them in the future. Eastern Kentucky University’s (EKU) Division of Natural Areas has been conducting EE programming for students K-12 for the past 13 years. The areas utilized for EE programming include Maywoods Environmental and Educational Laboratory in Garrard County, KY or Lilley Cornett Woods Appalachian Ecological Research Station in Letcher County, KY. Over the years, the curriculum has been updated to improve student engagement and meet the Next Generation Science Standards. The current facilitation of EE programs does not include an assessment of teachers’ perceptions. The purpose of this project is to assess the perceptions of teachers whose classes participate in the EE programs at EKU’s Natural Areas. After students visited and participated in EE programs, their teachers were emailed a survey to assess their perceptions of the EE programs. For instance, if the teachers believe the programs fit into school curriculum, if the teachers feel as if the station leaders were prepared and knowledgeable of the material taught, and if the teachers have any suggestions on changes or improvements to the programs. The results from the survey were positive, but some results suggest EE programming could be improved in some areas. For instance, providing interdisciplinary EE lessons or having more dates for teachers to choose from could be improvements made. The next steps in this research project could be to continue surveying teachers over several semesters and years, and to evaluate the effect of programming on the students. </p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Watts, Mahala Amber"],"institution":"Eastern Kentucky University","degree_name":"Master of Science (MS)","degree_level":"Master's","degree_discipline":"Recreation and Park Administration","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":[],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2019,"date_issued":"2019-01-01T08:00:00Z","date_published":"2019-01-01T08:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:15:53Z","subjects":["Environmental Education","Next Generation Science Standards","Teacher Evaluation"],"languages":[],"rights":["Copyright 2019 Mahala Amber Watts"],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://encompass.eku.edu/etd/653","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Watts, Mahala Amber"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:publisher","label":"Institution","values":["Encompass Digital Archive, Eastern Kentucky University"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["Master Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Recreation and Park Administration"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Master's"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Science (MS)"]},{"key":"thesis:institution_name","label":"Thesis Institution Name","values":["Eastern Kentucky University"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Environmental Education","Next Generation Science Standards","Teacher Evaluation"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:rights","label":"Dc Rights","values":["Copyright 2019 Mahala Amber Watts"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://encompass.eku.edu/etd/653"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["A goal of environmental education (EE) is to help instill environmental stewardship in students for the future. Hungerford and Volk (1990) believe environmental stewardship is changing behaviors, values, or beliefs related to human-environment interaction. It is important for people to learn about environmental concepts at a young age, so they will care about them in the future. Eastern Kentucky University’s (EKU) Division of Natural Areas has been conducting EE programming for students K-12 for the past 13 years. The areas utilized for EE programming include Maywoods Environmental and Educational Laboratory in Garrard County, KY or Lilley Cornett Woods Appalachian Ecological Research Station in Letcher County, KY. Over the years, the curriculum has been updated to improve student engagement and meet the Next Generation Science Standards. The current facilitation of EE programs does not include an assessment of teachers’ perceptions. The purpose of this project is to assess the perceptions of teachers whose classes participate in the EE programs at EKU’s Natural Areas. After students visited and participated in EE programs, their teachers were emailed a survey to assess their perceptions of the EE programs. For instance, if the teachers believe the programs fit into school curriculum, if the teachers feel as if the station leaders were prepared and knowledgeable of the material taught, and if the teachers have any suggestions on changes or improvements to the programs. The results from the survey were positive, but some results suggest EE programming could be improved in some areas. For instance, providing interdisciplinary EE lessons or having more dates for teachers to choose from could be improvements made. The next steps in this research project could be to continue surveying teachers over several semesters and years, and to evaluate the effect of programming on the students.
"]},{"key":"dc:format","label":"Dc Format","values":["application/PDF"]},{"key":"dc:source","label":"Dc Source","values":["Encompass Digital Archive: Online Theses and Dissertations"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Teacher Perspectives on Environmental Education Programs Provided By Eastern Kentucky University Division of Natural Areas"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:creator":["Watts, Mahala Amber"],"dc:description.abstract":["A goal of environmental education (EE) is to help instill environmental stewardship in students for the future. Hungerford and Volk (1990) believe environmental stewardship is changing behaviors, values, or beliefs related to human-environment interaction. It is important for people to learn about environmental concepts at a young age, so they will care about them in the future. Eastern Kentucky University’s (EKU) Division of Natural Areas has been conducting EE programming for students K-12 for the past 13 years. The areas utilized for EE programming include Maywoods Environmental and Educational Laboratory in Garrard County, KY or Lilley Cornett Woods Appalachian Ecological Research Station in Letcher County, KY. Over the years, the curriculum has been updated to improve student engagement and meet the Next Generation Science Standards. The current facilitation of EE programs does not include an assessment of teachers’ perceptions. The purpose of this project is to assess the perceptions of teachers whose classes participate in the EE programs at EKU’s Natural Areas. After students visited and participated in EE programs, their teachers were emailed a survey to assess their perceptions of the EE programs. For instance, if the teachers believe the programs fit into school curriculum, if the teachers feel as if the station leaders were prepared and knowledgeable of the material taught, and if the teachers have any suggestions on changes or improvements to the programs. The results from the survey were positive, but some results suggest EE programming could be improved in some areas. For instance, providing interdisciplinary EE lessons or having more dates for teachers to choose from could be improvements made. The next steps in this research project could be to continue surveying teachers over several semesters and years, and to evaluate the effect of programming on the students.
"],"dc:format":["application/PDF"],"dc:identifier":["https://encompass.eku.edu/etd/653"],"dc:publisher":["Encompass Digital Archive, Eastern Kentucky University"],"dc:rights":["Copyright 2019 Mahala Amber Watts"],"dc:source":["Encompass Digital Archive: Online Theses and Dissertations"],"dc:subject":["Environmental Education","Next Generation Science Standards","Teacher Evaluation"],"dc:title":["Teacher Perspectives on Environmental Education Programs Provided By Eastern Kentucky University Division of Natural Areas"],"dc:type":["Master Thesis"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Recreation and Park Administration"],"thesis:degree_level":["Master's"],"thesis:degree_name":["Master of Science (MS)"],"thesis:institution_name":["Eastern Kentucky University"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:15:53Z"}