A Study of Teaching Under the Weather: The Influence of Weather on Participant Mood and Engagement During an Informal Summer Camp Program.

The research question in this thesis was to find out if and how weather influenced students’ positive and negative mood, as well as cognitive, emotional, and behavioral engagement. This study also inquired if these results were similar to what prior research has found regarding how weather affects people’s mood and learning. The results from this study provided information to help teachers make decisions on how to plan instruction for their students based on the weather. Some suggestions include; an impromptu discussion on a sunny day, or allowing students some more time to do a hands-on activity by themselves when it rains. The research took place at the Toledo Zoo and included 26 participants. Participants were surveyed at the end of each day for the five days that they were at the Toledo Zoo Junior Zoo Keeper Summer Camp Program, creating a total of five surveys per participant. The data were analyzed via a series of sequenced ANOVA tests, known as a MANOVA, which compared the students across the 5 days, week-to-week and good-to-bad-weather days. There are five MANOVAs in the series. One for each of the following: positive mood, negative mood, behavioral engagement, cognitive engagement, and emotional engagement. The data collected showed that the only factor found to be statistically significant and likely to be influenced by weather was behavioral engagement. The results of this study showed information that would allow the zoo access to constructive feedback and ideas on how to potentially improve programs. Educational activities should be focused in different ways for different weather, which could lead to increased learning of the students at the zoo and create a higher retention rate in student knowledge as well.

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Education (MEd)

Level thesis:degree_level

masters

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Curriculum and Teaching

Grantor dc:publisher

Bowling Green State University

Year dc:date

2013

Author dc:creator

• Carstensen, Joseph William

Contributors dc:contributor

• Haney, Jodi

• Education
• Educational Psychology
• Weather
• Mood
• Engagement
• MANOVA

Statement dc:rights

• unrestricted
• This thesis or dissertation is protected by copyright: some rights reserved. It is licensed for use under a Creative Commons license. Specific terms and permissions are available from this document's record in the OhioLINK ETD Center.

Language dc:language

English

Repository record dc:identifier

http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=bgsu1364994944

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:etd.ohiolink.edu:bgsu1364994944