The tool provides information about the type of motivation for doing and learning science in adult audiences; it is distinctly different from measuring an individual’s reason for participation. It is based on the understanding that motivation can range from intrinsic to extrinsic motivation. Choosing to participate in an activity may be because it makes an individual feel good (intrinsic), or it may be because it gains the respect of others (extrinsic). Motivation can be important to measure because it can drive behavior, such as someone choosing to volunteer for an environmental organization.
This tool, the Draw-an-Ecosystem task, takes a qualitative approach to evaluation. Participants draw and label an ecosystem before and after a program to measure their change in environmental knowledge.
Environmental action measured by this survey is defined as intentional civic behaviors focused on systemic environmental issues and collective sustainability efforts. Examples include attending environmental community events or organizing a protest.
This tool was designed to measure a variety of environmental attitudes, based on the multitude of attitude research that has occurred over decades. Because it was not designed to evaluate educational programs, consider whether and how to use the 12 scales that collectively offer 120 items. The scales capture both preservation and utilitarian attitudes, as well as broad perceptions about the natural environment.
The 12 scales include: 1) Enjoyment of nature 2) Support for interventionist conservation policies 3) Environmental movement activism 4) Conservation motivated by anthropocentric concern 5) Confidence in science and technology 6) Environmental threat 7) Altering nature 8) Personal conservation behavior 9) Human dominance over nature 10) Human utilization of nature 11) Ecocentric concern and 12) Support for population growth policies.
Alternatively, there is one condensed scale developed by the researchers. It consists of 24 items which measure environmental attitudes more generally.
This survey would be useful for EE teacher education and professional development programs working with preservice and in-service educators. The survey is used to assess whether teachers believe that they can teach EE effectively as it relates to EE teaching strategies and outcomes.
The Environmental Identity (EID) Scale can be used to measure a person’s environmental identity, or their sense of connection to the natural world. It can be helpful to assess a person’s environmental identity because this identity can have a broad and lasting influence on their behavior. The scale measures different aspects of a person’s environmental identity, including 1) self-identification (based on the extent and importance of an individual’s interaction with nature), 2) ideology (based on support for environmentally friendly lifestyle choices), and 3) positive emotions toward the environment (based on enjoyment obtained in nature).
The Life Effectiveness Questionnaire (LEQ-H) is a survey used to measure personal development in several areas related to life effectiveness, or “a person’s demonstrated capacity to adapt, survive, and thrive” (Neill, 2008). The LEQ-H measures 8 domains, including time management, social competence, achievement motivation, intellectual flexibility, task leadership, emotional control, active initiative, and self confidence. The tool has been used to assess how outdoor education programs, including a variety of Outward Bound programs, influence a person’s self-perception of their skills in these areas.
This set of qualitative tools intend to help programs/organizations understand how participants experience their program(s). Because of the qualitative nature of the tools, this approach lifts up participants’ voice in their own words, as opposed to a closed-ended survey tool. These tools help capture the nuance and story of participant experience and can be useful for both internal understanding and external reports to funders, boards, community members, and other key partners.
This 13-item scale evaluates four key domains of pro-environmental behavior: 1) conservation lifestyle behaviors (household choices made by people that broadly influence environmental sustainability, like recycling or water conservation); 2) land stewardship behaviors (direct engagement with the environment, like tree planting or community science); 3) social environmentalism (actions that deal with social relationships, like participating with an environmental group or telling friends about environmental issues) and 4) environmental citizenship (actions related to environmental policy, like voting to support conservation efforts or donating money to conservation organizations).
This tool was designed to assess participants’ attitudes toward sustainability. It measures sustainability attitudes with a single score drawing from three domains (ecological, social, and economic).