At Georgia Southern University (GSU), a regional university of 17,000 students, environmental science is a required introductory course for all students. Consequently, environmental-biology class sizes are large, often approaching 1,000 students each semester in multiple sections of up to 250 students. To improve students' learning and sense of…

More colleges are making sustainability programs a high priority, putting more resources into energy-conservation efforts, and setting goals to reduce carbon emissions, according to survey results released by the National Wildlife Federation. Given the popularity of all things green, that is not surprising. The surprising part of the federation's…

Chalmers University of Technology is actively promoting learning for sustainable development in its educational programmes. A compulsory part of the bachelor curricula is five full-time weeks of studies on environment and sustainable development. This paper presents an inventory of the contents in these courses performed as a series of discussions…

As recently as a generation ago, playtime meant outdoor activity that put children in touch with nature. Now, it's chat rooms, video games, and virtual nature. The result is "videophilia" as opposed to "biophilia." This nature-deficit disorder has spurred a national movement that has made its way to Capitol Hill in the form of a proposed No Child…

The "New Environmental Paradigm" or NEP appears to have gained considerable popularity in academic and intellectual circles, as well as among many college students; however, very little is known concerning the degree to which the general public has come to accept the ideas embodied in it. Thus, although there have been dozens of studies…

The National Science Foundation-funded Arctic Climate Modeling Program (ACMP) provides "curriculum resource-based professional development" materials that combine current science information with practical classroom instruction embedded with "best practice" techniques for teaching science to diverse students. The Sea Ice Board…

Environmental education is commonly claimed to be at the centre of efforts to achieve sustainable development. Since the 1980s, Costa Rica has been one of the acknowledged leaders in efforts to promote environmental learning, and national policy includes a three-fold national development strategy which simultaneously promotes education,…

This paper considers the complexity of learning and decision-making in modern society and argues that experiential education should embrace this complexity. It argues that experiential programmes should provide independent learning experiences that address the capacities of learners, the value contexts in which they learn, and that taking…

The coastal town of Tuticorin is situated in the southern part of the Gulf of Mannar Marine National Park on the Southeastern Indian coast. The four islands off the Tuticorin coast are fringed by corals reefs and seagrass beds. Destructive fishing methods including blast fishing, near-shore trawling, coral mining, sedimentation and pollution have,…

To determine persistence predictors among first-time college freshmen who declared majors in a College of Human Environmental Sciences at a land-grant university, the College Student Inventory (CSI) was used. It allowed the researchers to identify predictors of retention among incoming students by investigating the relationship between persistence…

This paper explores the pedagogical benefits of combining remote winter wilderness travel and homestead living with reading, writing, and listening to personal narratives from the expedition region. A co-taught interdisciplinary university course will be used as a case study to demonstrate the ways in which this approach aids in developing…

This paper describes the evolution of an environmental learning program for Indigenous, urban youth called Bridging the Gap. A critical pedagogy of place provides a theoretical framework to engage in practitioner-reflection, exploring the decisions made while revising the original program to make it both culturally and ecologically relevant. Using…

This essay explores a central question for all those involved in education and sustainability (ESD): What are you really most interested in: educational or social outcomes--what learners learn, or what they do? Although this is hardly a new question, the paper argues that it is one that needs to be emphasised at this time when we see a tightening…

In his speech at the inaugural session of the 4th International Conference on Environmental Education, Ahmedabad, India, in November 2007, Charles Hopkins, one of the "founding fathers" of environmental education (EE) at the 1st International Conference on Environmental Education in Tbilisi, Georgia, in 1977, reflected on how EE has…

Climate change and degradation of the environment are global problems associated with many other challenges (e.g., population increases, reduction of glaciers, and loss of critical habitats). Psychological science can play a critical role in addressing these problems by fostering a sustainable environment. Multiple strategies for fostering a…