Background: Educators report needing relevant and authentic climate change educational resources (CCER). National parks are informal education centers that can provide CCER for educators. However, little is known about the CCER that exist across the national parks in the United States. Purpose: To increase the knowledge in this area, this study…

The Big Bend region of Trans-Pecos Texas preserves a rich record of Rio Grande rifting and Laramide-age contraction that provide intrigue to national and state park visitors and field trips for undergraduate geology students. Despite its well-exposed geologic record, the Big Bend region remains an underutilized natural laboratory for studying…

Research supports the benefits of exposing children to nature, yet classroom teachers indicate they do not possess the time, monetary resources, or space to construct an ideal outdoor space. An underutilized resource is the non-traditional educator who has: knowledge about the outdoors; space, especially in state parks; and time since the primary…

This study aimed to investigate undergraduates' perspectives of online syllabus design and interactivity in an asynchronous geoscience course. The study was grounded in previous research on syllabus design and interactivity and used a multiple case study design to gather data from five participants. The course had multiple sections, each with a…

Citizen science, an emerging research tool employed worldwide, can encourage nonprofessionals to engage in scientific exploration. Additionally, the research strategy presents great potential to serve as a learning platform for students, supporting diverse contributions to science on public lands. Citizen science also has potential to encourage…

Citizen science is an emerging approach to conducting research in the National Parks System. As National Parks work to cultivate stewards for the parks' second century, this strategy may support scientific efforts while educating, engaging, and connecting participants with parks. Citizen science enlists the public in elements of the research…

We live in environmentally turbulent times where issues such as freshwater scarcity, soil and air pollution, natural disasters and depletion, biodiversity loss, and infectious diseases pose a serious danger for future generations. Climate change is one of the most significant modern threats, the solution to which requires the engagement of…

This article analyzes the knowledge and attitudes of high school students regarding the temperate mountain forest of La Malinche National Park, Tlaxcala, Mexico, before and after the implementation of the science communication program called "Los Tesoros de La Malinche" (The Treasures of La Malinche). The assessment included drawings,…

In this paper, we describe an informal science program where specific program elements were designed to support youth development of a 21st century naturalist identity, which we call out as an important subtype of environmental and scientific identity. As part of a research-practice partnership, we conducted a case study of a teen youth program…

This study aims to determine the changes in the cognitive structures of the 35 participants after ecology-based nature education in Bursa Uludag and its vicinity. This study used a single group pretest-posttest experimental mode where the data was collected by a word association test. It included the key concepts of nature, national parks,…

Families create contexts for learning to enhance and support the interests of their children, while simultaneously teaching language, morals, and culture. This research examines intergenerational family teams engaged in a long-term conservation project in their community. Participants were interviewed during and after project completion with the…

Argumentation is an important component of scientific education (Osborne, 2010). However, how students create and evaluate competing arguments in scientific investigations is a complex construct, which presents significant challenges for assessment. We engaged 349 middle and high school students in a virtual scientific investigation based on an…

This year marks the U.S. National Park Service's 100th anniversary. Although the nation's first national park--Yellowstone--dates to 1872, the government organization protecting and administering the national parks was founded just a hundred years ago, in 1916. Many U.S. national parks were established to preserve their unique geology or biology.…

What does it mean to engage in critical pedagogy of place in formal science education? Although Gruenewald's (2003a) theoretical construct of a critical pedagogy of place has been heavily cited, there is nonetheless a lack of empirical research on critical pedagogy of place, particularly within formal science education. This paper provides a case…

This study aimed to investigate out-of-school learning environments within the borders of the province of Izmir in terms of various parameters. With this purpose, the researchers developed the "Out-Of-School Learning Environments Assessment Survey." The study used the screening model, which is a descriptive research method. In the scope…