EE Outcomes

Sense of Place describes the connections that people feel with a local place or habitat, or their identity with a particular geography. 

Tools for Sense of Place 

Connection to Nature describes how participants connect deeply, experience, appreciate, and identify with nature. It defines how people identify with and form relationships with nature. 

Tools for Connection to Nature 

Environmental Knowledge assesses participant's environmental thinking, knowledge, and skills including awareness about the environment and environmental problems, and how to solve those problems. It may include systems knowledge: knowledge about ecosystem processes; actions or behaviors to address environmental problems. 

Tools for Environmental Knowledge 

Environmental Literacy is closely connected to environmental knowledge and includes attitudes and behaviors. It describes someone who makes informed decisions concerning the environment and is willing to act to improve the well-being of other individuals, societies, and the global environment; and participates in civic life

Tools for Environmental Literacy  

Environmental Attitudes describes how learners care about the environment. These attitudes are the product of positive and negative judgments about what learners believe is true. Be careful to distinguish attitudes from values. Environmental values are broader and deeper than attitudes and are often culturally-determined guiding principles. Values are not easily changed with educational programs and are rarely an objective or outcome.

Tools for Environmental Attitudes 

Environmental Behaviors assess participant's actions towards solving an environmental issue or problem, such as influencing participants' purchase of single-use plastics. For behaviors that are in the future or difficult to observe, you can measure intention, which is typically a form of self-reported data.

Tools for Environmental Behaviors  

Environmental Actions describe Intentional civic actions that address systemic causes of environmental issues and promote environmental sustainability often through collective or community effort. This includes low-level participatory civic action such as becoming informed, as well as high-level leadership actions such as organizing an event or running for office. It is important to identify collective actions at the community level since so many environmental problems are anchored in society. 

Tools for Environmental Actions   

Positive Youth Development may include youth’s self-efficacy, pro-social norms, meaningful relationships, and social and moral competence. Researchers have identified 5 C’s of positive youth development: competence, confidence, connection, character, and caring. With these skills, youth are more likely to contribute to the community and civil society, thus developing the sixth C, which is contribution. 

Tools for Positive Youth Development 

21st Century Skills are aligned with positive youth development for assessing youth participants. They include systems thinking, critical thinking, problem-solving, and group process skills. 

Tools for 21st Century Skills 

Efficacy can describe either self efficacy or collective efficacy. In self-efficacy, the focus is on the individual's belief in their ability to succeed or accomplish a task. In collective efficacy, the focus is on a group’s belief that they can succeed and accomplish a task, or that the group has the capacity to succeed. 

Tools for Efficacy 

Long-Term Community Changes focus on the community. They may be ecosystem changes, such as improving water quality or wildlife habitat,  or changes associated with environmental action, community resilience, or environmental justice. 

Tools for Community Change (coming soon!) 

Engagement measures how interested people are in an activity or general topics, such as science or science careers.

Tools for Engagement 

Process Level Outcomes examine key components of your program’s design, such as activities, instructional materials, sites and facilities, and staff recruitment and training. Measuring these outcomes can help you consider how to make your programs more culturally relevant, improve the diversity of your staff or volunteer base, or reach a broader community. 

Tools for Process Level