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Exploring challenges and lessons learned in cross-cultural environmental education research

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  • Briggs, Lilly
  • Trautmann, Nancy
  • Phillips, Tina

Abstract

The field of environmental education (EE) has been criticized for scarcity of research findings that can be used to compare the approaches and outcomes of various interventions and contexts. This is particularly problematic for EE programs that are implemented across multi-cultural settings because very little academic attention has been devoted to cross-cultural EE research methods. Intending to address this gap, we set out to develop and pilot a pre/post survey in Costa Rica that could help us investigate the impacts of a bird-focused curriculum on Latin American children’s knowledge, attitudes, behavioral intentions, and behaviors toward birds and the natural world. This article describes the challenges encountered and subsequent adaptations made throughout our ongoing, iterative survey development process, in order to appropriately address language, sociocultural context, audience, and research-to-practice tensions. We present key lessons learned, including the importance of having strong local partners, the need to create a realistic research timetable that accounts for unique challenges involved in undertaking cross-cultural EE research, and the limitations of quantitative methods in this sort of research.

Suggested Citation

  • Briggs, Lilly & Trautmann, Nancy & Phillips, Tina, 2019. "Exploring challenges and lessons learned in cross-cultural environmental education research," Evaluation and Program Planning, Elsevier, vol. 73(C), pages 156-162.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:epplan:v:73:y:2019:i:c:p:156-162
    DOI: 10.1016/j.evalprogplan.2019.01.001
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Heimlich, Joe E., 2010. "Environmental education evaluation: Reinterpreting education as a strategy for meeting mission," Evaluation and Program Planning, Elsevier, vol. 33(2), pages 180-185, May.
    2. Carleton-Hug, Annelise & Hug, J. William, 2010. "Challenges and opportunities for evaluating environmental education programs," Evaluation and Program Planning, Elsevier, vol. 33(2), pages 159-164, May.
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    Cited by:

    1. Shi, Yingying & Wei, Zixiang & Shahbaz, Muhammad & Zeng, Yongchao, 2021. "Exploring the dynamics of low-carbon technology diffusion among enterprises: An evolutionary game model on a two-level heterogeneous social network," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 101(C).
    2. Anderson, Kelley C. & Stern, Marc J. & Powell, Robert B. & Dayer, Ashley A. & Archibald, Thomas G., 2022. "A culturally responsive evaluation framework and its application in environmental education," Evaluation and Program Planning, Elsevier, vol. 92(C).

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