PARENT SESSION
Contributed Oral Session 13: Ecology Education I
Monday, August 8, 8:00 AM - 11:30 AM, Meeting Room 520 C, Level 5, Palais des congrès de Montréal
Increasing ecological literacy through an interpretive nature trail walk through a woodlands and prairie restoration.
Jablonski, Leanne *,1, Dillon , Mary Ellen 2, Poling, Tara1, 1 Marianist Environmental Education Center, Dayton, OH, USA2 University of Dayton, Dayton, OH, USA
ABSTRACT- An interpretive nature trail guide for the 100-acre Mount Saint John (MSJ)/Marianist Environmental Education Center (MEEC) restoration site was developed to provide an informal environmental learning opportunity for the 10,000 annual visitors. Our goal was to increase literacy in key ecological principles that a woodlands and grasslands restoration demonstrates and where knowledge is lowest: ecosystem succession, importance of diversity, biotic interactions and materials cycling (Environmental Literacy of Ohio Adults, Mancl et al., Ohio J. Sci 1999 (3): 57-61). A 10-page guide was developed with 11 stations, integrating natural and cultural history and guided discovery questions. To assess effectiveness as a learning tool and to identify areas for writing clarification, the guide was field-tested by 109 participants from April to October 2004. A pre-assessment utilized 32 objective questions of Mancl and subjective questions to evaluate ecological literacy. We developed a post-trail walk assessment parallel to the pre-assessment but with examples from our site. Our participants showed a similar incoming literacy on eight ecology principles to that found in the general population of Ohio adults. Participants accurately named two Ohio ecosystems but showed low comprehension on the roles of natural areas, biodiversity, and invasive species. Post-trail assessment showed a significant 9.3 % increase in understanding ecosystem succession. Participants expressed enjoyment and rated new knowledge gained as 10% higher than overall incoming knowledge. Areas of participant misconception and participant suggestions guided revision of the trail text. Low understanding (< 50%) of materials cycling in both Mancl and our study suggests more educational emphasis is needed. Our study shows the educational value of feedback through field-testing and suggests that the features evident in restoration sites can foster improved understanding of key ecology principles.
Key words: restoration ecology, educational research, environmental literacy, environmental interpretation