skip to main content
US FlagAn official website of the United States government
dot gov icon
Official websites use .gov
A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.
https lock icon
Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
A lock ( lock ) or https:// means you've safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

Explore Research Products in the PAR
It may take a few hours for recently added research products to appear in PAR search results.


Title: Building capacity for socio-ecological change through the campus farm: a mixed-methods study
Given the ongoing socio-ecological crises, higher education institutions need curricular interventions to support students in developing the knowledge, skills, and perspectives needed to create a sustainable future. Campus farms are increasingly becoming sites for sustainability and environmental education toward this end. This paper describes the design and outcomes of a farm-situated place-based experiential learning (PBEL) intervention in two undergraduate biology courses and one environmental studies course over two academic years. We conducted a mixed-method study using pre/post-surveys and focus groups to examine the relationship between the PBEL intervention and students’ sense of place and expressions of pro-environmentalism. The quantitative analysis indicated measurable shifts in students’ place attachment and place-meaning scores. The qualitative findings illustrate a complex relationship between students’ academic/career interests, backgrounds, and pro-environmentalism. We integrated these findings to generate a model of sustainability learning through PBEL and argue for deepening learning to encourage active participation in socio-ecological change.  more » « less
Award ID(s):
1915313
PAR ID:
10336279
Author(s) / Creator(s):
; ; ; ;
Date Published:
Journal Name:
Environmental Education Research
ISSN:
1350-4622
Page Range / eLocation ID:
1 to 20
Format(s):
Medium: X
Sponsoring Org:
National Science Foundation
More Like this
  1. ; ; ; (, 2022 Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association)
    When implemented effectively, Place-Based Experiential Learning (PBEL) pedagogies have been shown through different studies to enhance student content knowledge, course engagement, critical thinking skills, and civic-mindedness. This research followed 10 semester long university courses, during one academic year, implementing PBEL pedagogies with a focus on urban farming. Courses came from a wide array of disciplines including courses focused on science, technology, engineering, or mathematics as well as many non-STEM courses. Students completed pre- and post-assessments to measure change in civic-mindedness, place attachment, situated sustainability meaning-making, and environmental scientific literacy. Statistically significant positive change with small to moderate effect sizes were found in student’s environmental scientific literacy, situated sustainability meaning-making, place attachment, and civic-mindedness. 
    more » « less
  2. ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; (, Sustainability)
    In the face of the climate crisis, sustainability education must include a focus on understandings of socio-ecological systems (SES) and applying systems thinking (ST) skills. This study investigates a Community and Citizen Science (CCS) program designed for elementary school students to collect forest data to better understand their SES and gain insights into wildfire management in a California region recently ravaged by wildfires. We examine the development of fourth-grade students’ systems thinking skills and understandings of SES, seeing these as crucial components toward fostering agency with science to support climate resilience. We found that students were capable of recognizing the intricate impacts of wildfires on interconnected human and ecological systems and demonstrated varying levels of proficiency in systems thinking skills. This place-based CCS program cultivated knowledge and skills in young learners that may contribute to better socio-ecological resilience and proactive sustainability efforts. 
    more » « less
  3. ; ; ; (, Journal of sustainability education)
    This research explores the role that place attachment and place meaning towards an urban farm play in predicting undergraduate students’ civic-mindedness, an important factor in sustainability and social change. In 2017 and 2018, three STEM courses at a private university in the Midwest incorporated a local urban farm as a physical and conceptual context for teaching course content and sustainability concepts. Each course included a four to six-week long place-based experiential learning (PBEL) module aimed at enhancing undergraduate STEM student learning outcomes, particularly place attachment, situated sustainability meaning-making (SSMM), and civic-mindedness. End-of-course place attachment, SSMM, and civic-mindedness survey data were collected from students involved in these courses and combined with institutionally provided demographic information. Place attachment and SSMM surveys, along with the course in which the students participated, were statistically significant predictors of students’ civic mindedness score. 
    more » « less
  4. ; ; ; (, Journal of sustainability education)
    Campus agriculture projects are increasingly being recognized as spaces impactful to student engagement and learning through curricular and co-curricular programming; however, most campus farm activities are limited to agriculture or sustainability programs and/or cocurricular student clubs. Thus, campus farms are largely underutilized in the undergraduate curriculum, marking a need to explore the efficacy and impact of engaging a diverse array of disciplinary courses in the rich social, environmental, and civic context of local sustainable agriculture. The Farm Hub program presented here incentivizes instructors to refocus a portion of existing course content around the topic of local, sustainable agriculture, and reduces barriers to using a campus farm as a situated learning context for curricula. A pedagogical framework founded in place-based experiential learning (PBEL) theory was developed to guide instructors in the development and implementation of 4–6-week inquiry-based PBEL modules embedded in existing courses. The framework was converted into a research protocol to quantify program implementation fidelity and PBEL best practice adherence for the proposed lesson plans (intended) and their implementation (applied). The framework enables the development of a cohesive cross-curricular program so that the impact of implementation fidelity and best practice adherence to student learning outcomes in scientific literacy, place attachment and meaning, and civic mindedness can be assessed and the results utilized to develop a formal farm-situated PBEL pedagogical taxonomy. This framework can be applied to PBEL curriculum in natural spaces beyond campus farms. 
    more » « less
  5. ; ; ; ; (, ASEE)
    ASEE (Ed.)
    This paper presents four years (2021-2024) of data from a study that aims to understand engineering students' environmental awareness and pro-environmental behavior at different levels in a prominent HBCU. Through extensive surveys developed as part of this project, students' ecological knowledge and higher-level environmental behavior were explored. In this context, the study also investigated their willingness and preparedness to pursue careers in the industries developing sustainable resources. With a focus on imparting these qualities, a pedagogical system with a comprehensive pool of interventions has been designed and implemented in a senior-level mechanical engineering course. The paper summarizes the survey development process and the data that explores the impact of the intervention on students' ecological knowledge, behavior, attitudes, and job decisions. The study indicates that early academic interventions can shape students' environmental attitudes and behavior and help prepare a diverse renewable energy workforce for the future. 
    more » « less
  • Citation Formats
  • MLA
  • APA
  • Chicago
  • BibTeX
  • Save / Share this Record
  • Send to Email