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Environmental Education for the 21st Century (EE21): Lessons from Research

Dr. Marc J. Stern, Professor, Virginia Tech and Dr. Robert B. Powell, Professor, Clemson University led two nation-wide studies of environmental education field trip programs for youth in grades 6-8.

This research was funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) Advancing Informal Science Learning (AISL) program (DRL 1612416 & DRL 1906610) and the Institute of Museum and Library Services National Leadership Grant program (MG-10-16-0057-16). Below you will find open-access resources resulting from this work.

Overview

The first step of this research was to develop a cross-cutting assessment tool for measuring participant outcomes of environmental education programs. This tool has been tested and validated for use with students ages 11 and up. This survey, in some variation, was used in two nation-wide studies of environmental education field trip programs to determine what practices, approaches, and principles lead to better student outcomes.

Additional research conducted within these two large studies can be found in the publications section of this webpage.

View all EE21 resources

Survey Guidance and Use

The EE21 surveys are publicly available for use.

Where to start?

Start with EE21 Guidance

EE21 Outcomes Overview

 
Retrospective Survey Protocol

We recommend using the retrospective survey for programs shorter than 2 days, or when wanting to compare outcome scores across programs or groups of participants.

 
Pre/Post Survey Protocol

We recommend using the pre/post survey for programs longer than 3 days to track changes in participant outcome scores over time within a specific program.

Editable versions

If you would like editable versions of the surveys, email Marc Stern (mjstern@vt.edu) or Bob Powell (rbp@clemson.edu).

 

Literature Review: EE Program Evaluation (2014)

  • Stern, M. J., Powell, R. B., & Hill, D. (2014). Environmental education program evaluation in the new millennium: what do we measure and what have we learned? Environmental Education Research, 20(5), 581–611.

Validation of EE21 Survey Instrument (2019)

  • Powell, R. B., Stern, M. J., Frensley, B. T., & Moore, D. (2019). Identifying and developing crosscutting environmental education outcomes for adolescents in the twenty-first century (EE21). Environmental Education Research, 25(9), 1281-1299.

Influence of a natural setting on EE outcomes (2020)

  • Dale, R. G., Powell, R. B., Stern, M. J., & Garst, B. A. (2020). Influence of the natural setting on environmental education outcomes. Environmental Education Research, 26(5), 613-631.

Influence of pre-visit preparation and post-visit activities on EE outcomes (2020)

  • Lee, H., Stern, M. J., & Powell, R. B. (2020). Do pre-visit preparation and post-visit activities improve student outcomes on field trips?. Environmental Education Research, 26(7), 989-1007.

Influence of educators’ emotional support on EE outcomes (2020)

  • O’Hare, A., Powell, R. B., Stern, M. J., & Bowers, E. P. (2020). Influence of educator’s emotional support behaviors on environmental education student outcomes. Environmental Education Research, 26(11), 1556-1577.

Organizational factors that motivate environmental educators (2021)

  • Pratson, D., Stern, M. J., & Powell, R. B. (2021). What organizational factors motivate environmental educators to perform their best?. The Journal of Environmental Education, 52(4), 256-271.

Differential impacts of EE on diverse audiences (2022)

  • Stern, M. J., Powell, R. B., & Frensley, B. T. (2022). Environmental education, age, race, and socioeconomic class: An exploration of differential impacts of field trips on adolescent youth in the United States. Environmental Education Research, 28(2), 197-215.

What approaches lead to better outcomes in EE field trip programs? (2023)

  • Powell, R. B., Stern, M. J., & Frensley, B. T. (2023). Which approaches are associated with better outcomes? Evidence from a national study of environmental education field trip programs for adolescent youth in the United States. Environmental Education Research, 29(3), 331-356.

Influence of a naturalness on EE outcomes (2023)

  • Kiewra, L., Powell, R. B., Stern, M. J., Hemby, T., & Browning, M. H. (2023). Is naturalness associated with positive learning outcomes during environmental education field trips?. The Journal of Environmental Education, 54(2), 148-162.

Differential impacts of EE across sociopolitical contexts (2024)

  • Thorpe, E. G., Stern, M. J., Powell, R. B., & Hemby, T. L. (2024). Does environmental education work differently across sociopolitical contexts in the United States? PART I. Exploration of outcomes for adolescent youth. Environmental Education Research, 30(5), 737-752.

Influence of pedagogy on EE outcomes across sociopolitical contexts (2024)

  • Thorpe, E. G., Stern, M. J., Powell, R. B., & Hemby, T. L. (2024). Does environmental education work differently across sociopolitical contexts in the United States? Part II. Examining pedagogy in school field trip programs for early adolescent youth across political contexts. Environmental Education Research, 30(5), 753-774.

Availability and distribution of EE field trip programs in the U.S. (2024)

  • Hemby, T. L., Powell, R. B., & Stern, M. J. (2024). Availability and distribution of environmental education field trip programs for adolescent students in the US: a national study of spatial accessibility. Environmental Education Research, 30(2), 214-234.

Principles for Better EE Field Trip Programs (2025)

  • Stern, M. J., Powell, R. B., Frensley, B. T., Anderson, K. C., Kiewra, L., Pownall, M., ... & Thorpe, E. G. (2025). Principles for better environmental education field trips for early adolescent youth in the United States: an empirical study. Environmental Education Research, 1-24.