Developing Environmentally Responsible Behavior: A Case Study of Trailside Discovery Camp
Research

by Megan Urban and Kirsten Martin

Using the Children's Environmental Attitudes and Knowledge Scale (CHEAKS), the authors examined the relationship between attending summer camp and environmentally responsible attitudes and behavior. Participants included 136 students who were tested at the beginning of attendance at Trailside Discovery Camp in Anchorage, Alaska, and approximately one month after the end of camp. Results indicated a relationship between the amount of knowledge the children had and their attitudes and behaviors toward the environment.

The definitive aim of environmental educators is to change individual behavior toward the environment by producing environmentally literate and responsible citizens (Knapp 2000). Citizens who are more connected to the environment tend to be more likely to help protect it. In order to more effectively reach the goals of environmental education, educators must determine when and where environmental education is the most effective. Many students are exposed to environmental education as a part of their school curriculum. During the school year, a student's environmental education might be restricted to a single trip to a local park, national park, or museum. Summer camp has always been an adventure for kids, offering an opportunity to get away from home and a chance to learn new skills and meet new friends. Summer camps, whether they are day camps or sleep away, provide the perfect opportunity to introduce and reinforce ideas and behavior. Many experiences in camp are hands-on, which helps a student become more environmentally responsible (Dresner and Gill 1994). Summer camps that focus on environmental education or environmental awareness are not confined by a school schedule and often provide the students more time to explore the outdoors. Knowledge gained from a summer camp experience is significant because of the fact that “knowledge evaluations are usually tackled on a lesson-to-lesson basis in biology” (Bogner 1998), whereas knowledge evaluations from summer camps can span a wide variety of subjects. The fact that students are learning from summer camps is important, because it is one of the key parts to developing environmentally responsible behavior.

The connection between knowledge and attitudes is continually debated. Some research has shown that knowledge does not per se lead to environmental action or the development of pro-environmental behavior, but knowledge is one of many important preconditions to lead to better behaviors (Jensen, 2002, p. 328). Thapa, Graefe, and Meyer have even gone as far to say that “environmental knowledge is a major factor in predicting proenvironmental behavior” (2005, p. 54). Other research has found that “several student participants retained long-term environmental and ecological content and evidenced a potentially perceived increase in proenvironmental attitude” (Farmer, Knapp and Benton, 2007, p. 40). As we can see, the literature supports and refutes the connection between knowledge and attitude. An integral part of any environmental curriculum should promote “respect for the environment, teaching values related to the environment, and encouraging environmentally responsible behavior” (Hewitt, 1997, para 1). Obviously knowledge acquisition is a crucial beginning, but how does a student transfer the knowledge into attitudes toward the environment and ultimately becoming an environmentally responsible member of society?

As discussed before, knowledge and attitude might be parts of the puzzle of environmentally responsible behavior. Newhouse adds the idea that a “sense of responsibility and locus of control” (1990, p. 26) influences the translation of knowledge into action. Locus of control refers to “an individual's belief in being reinforced for a certain behavior” (Hungerford and Volk, 1990, p. 12). In other words, the theory involves the idea that a belief about whether the results of our actions are dependent on what we do or on something outside our control. If a person has an internal locus of control, he/she feels a greater sense of control over external factors. A person who has an external locus of control feels that he/she has no control over the environment. Hungerford and Volk suggest the person who has an internal locus of control is more likely to report having a higher environmentally responsible behavior because their behavior is reinforced by success (as cited in Hines et al., 1987). People who have a sense of control with their impact on the environment might help protect the environment. Environmental education goals that include the words similar to “knowledge, attitudes, skills, commitment, and motivation play integral roles in insuring that the terminal goal of environmentally responsible behaviors can be met” (Simmons 1991, p. 16).

The goal of this current study is to further examine the relationship between children's knowledge of environmental issues, their emotions regarding the environment, and their behavior towards the environment. Furthermore, the study will explore the role a summer camp plays in increasing knowledge of environmental issues and changing attitudes and behavior towards the environment. A connection is expected to be found between age and knowledge — that is, the older children should have more knowledge about the environment. It is also expected that the children with greater knowledge will report more environmentally responsible attitudes and behaviors. As a result of the experience, it is expected to find an increase in knowledge after attending camp and that this increase of knowledge will be associated with an increase in responsible attitudes and behaviors. Finally, it is expected that the increase in test scores might be dependent on gender and age group.

Study Site

Trailside Discovery Camp, located in Anchorage, Alaska, started in 1982 and has grown to be the largest environmental education camp in Alaska. Based out of Campbell Creek Science Center, the students have 740-acres of pristine wilderness to explore. The mission of the camp is to provide a broad range of outdoor environmental education experiences for students of all ages and from all economic, social, and cultural backgrounds. Communitybased learning is best facilitated from the outdoors, and campers are actively engaged in service projects. This stewardship helps campers make a positive impact in their world.

Campers at Trailside Discovery Camp enjoy a week-long day camp. Some of the campers experience day trips to locale sties around Alaska. The day campers arrive at camp at 9 a.m. and leave around 4 p.m. Throughout the day, they explore the Campbell Creek Tract. Experienced counselors teach the campers abut the environment of many different ecosystems. Some campers might learn about a riparian ecosystem by exploring the Campbell Creek while other campers might be taking a day trip to Flattop Mountain to learn about the tundra. Campers get to see bears, moose, salmon, bald eagles, ptarmigans, to name some of the wildlife in the area. The real experience of Trailside Discovery Camp is that campers learn from the outdoors, in the outdoors. They gain knowledge of the environment, learn cooperative skills, and get to spend part of their summer in the Alaskan outdoors. Many campers are return campers, because they have so much fun and the parents acknowledge the importance of this type of summer camp.

Methods

Participants
Participants for this study were recruited from the Trailside Discovery Camp during the summer of 2006. Final analysis was based on 135 students (72 girls and 63 boys) aged between six and thirteen years (M= 9.5). The students were separated into three age groups: the six-seven-year-olds (n=62), the eight-nine-year olds (n=56), and the ten-thirteen-year-olds (n=17).

This configuration was determined by the grouping of ages used by the camp.

Instrument
CHEAKS was developed by Leeming, Dwyer, and Bracken in 1995. The final version of the test consists of two subscales, Attitude and Knowledge, and the CHEAKS total score. The Attitude subscale consists of thirty-six items to measure a student's attitudes toward environmental issues; twelve items reveal verbal commitment, (e.g., I would give $15 of my own money to help protect wild animals); twelve assess actual commitment, (e.g., I have asked my family to recycle some of the things we use); and twelve evaluate affect, (e.g., It frightens me to think how much energy is wasted). Each question was tied to one of six themes: animals, energy, pollution, recycling, water, and general issues. The Knowledge subscale had included thirty questions taken from the same six themes. The following is an example of a knowledge question: Ecology is the study of the relationship between: A) different species of animals; B) plants and the atmosphere; C) organisms and their environments; D) man and other animals; E) man and the environment.

The thirty-six questions of the Attitude subscale were originally presented in a 5-point Likert-type format. During the administration of the test, the researchers switched the answers to a true/false format, to make it easier for the younger students. Possible scores for the Attitude subscale ranged from 0 to 36. The Knowledge subscale was graded on a correct/not correct scale. Possible scores for the Knowledge subscale ranged from 0 to 30. The total CHEAKS scores ranged from 0 to 66.

Procedures
During the summer of 2006, the CHEAKS test was administered to 136 students at Trailside Discovery Camp. Initially, 396 students were approached; however, 260 students were excluded from the study because consent was not obtained.

At the beginning of each camp session, camp instructors handed out the consent forms to the parents of potential participants. The parents were to read and sign the consent and return it to the participant's counselor the next day. Once the counselor received the consent forms, the researcher would exchange the signed consents with the CHEAKS test for the campers to take. The counselors would take the campers to a quiet part of the Science Center and administer the test. For the younger participants, the counselors could read the questions, but were told not to help give answers. Additionally, the counselors were instructed that the participants were not required to complete the test if they did not understand the test or were not actively involved in taking the test.

A second test was mailed to the participants' homes approximately one month after they took the first test. Parents were instructed that they could read the test out loud to the children, but they could not help their children with the answers.

After the completed tests were returned, the researcher coded the tests and entered the data into SPSS (Statistical Program for the Social Science) for statistical analysis.

Results

Of the 135 participants, the six to sevenyear- olds constituted 45.9 percent, eight to nine-year-olds were 40.7 percent, and 13. 3 percent represented the ten to thirteenyear- olds. Additionally, 53.3 percent of the children were male while 43.7 percent were female. Twenty percent of the participants completed the one-month, followup assessment.

Analysis of the entire sample's precamp knowledge of and attitudes toward environmental concepts showed a total mean score of 26.38 out of 66. Exploration of the Attitude Subscales showed a mean score of 9.24 out of 12 on the Verbal Commitment Scale, a mean score of 7.01 out of 12 on the Actual Commitment Scale, and a mean score of 7.04 out of 12 on the Affect Scale. The participants had a mean score of 3.08 out of 30 on the Knowledge Scale. When examining by gender the precamp test scores, males had a mean total score of 26.49 and, similarly, the females had a mean score of 26.24. Mean scores were also examined in regards to the three different age groups. The first age group (six to seven-year-olds) had a mean total score of 24.47, the second age group (eight to nine-year-olds) had a mean score of 25.91, and the third age group (ten to thirteen-year-olds) had a mean score of 34.39. One-month, follow-up scores showed a mean score of 33.73 for the male participants and a mean score of 38.56 for the females. The three age groups had the following mean scores, respectively: M= 34.56, M=31.33, and M= 43.33.

Correlation analyses were used to explore potential relationships between the subscales and age group. In the Pretest scores, results indicated that Total Score was highly correlated with age as well as all of the subscales: Verbal Commitment, Actual Commitment, Affect score, and Knowledge Score. In addition to the Total Score, age was also correlated with the Knowledge Score. Furthermore, many of the subscales were correlated with each other. Verbal Commitment was found to be correlated with both Actual Commitment and the Affect Score. Actual Commitment was also correlated to the Affect Score, and, lastly, Affect Score was correlated with the Knowledge Score. Post-test correlational analysis did not indicate such robust findings; however Total Score was correlated with the Affect Score and the Knowledge Score, likewise, Verbal Commitment was also correlated with Affect and Knowledge Scores.

Finally, comparisons between Pre-Test and Post-Test scores were conducted in order to analyze the impact of camp attendance on performance on the CHEAKS Assessment. Overall, the participants Total Score increased significantly from a Pre-Test mean score of 29.12 to a Post-Test mean score of 35.54. The Knowledge Scale was the only subscale that had a significant increase from Pre-Test score to Post-Test score. When looking at gender, the male participants demonstrated a significant change in Pre-Test to Post-Test on the Knowledge Scale. The female students showed significant improvements of 15.67 points in their Total Score, and of 15.38 points on the Knowledge Scale.

The six to seven-year-olds showed significant improvement in their Knowledge Score, increasing from a mean score of 2.12 to 13.38. Similarly, the middle age group (eight to nine-year-olds) also showed a significant mean 12.6 point increase in their Knowledge Score. The oldest children did not show significant increase in either their total test score or in any of the subscales.

Discussion

As expected, correlational analysis indicates a relationship between the age of the child and the amount of knowledge they have about the environment. Likewise, there were strong relationships between the Attitude Subscales (verbal commitment, actual commitment, and affect). This supports the idea that the three attitude components are related to each other, and perhaps they even drive each other. The expected direct relationship between knowledge and the attitude components was not completely supported in this sample; however, there was a correlation between knowledge and affect. This may be an indication that affect is a potential link between knowledge and behavior and further analysis may show affect as a mediating factor in the progression of knowledge acquisition to change in attitude and behavior.

Exploration of the effect the camp had on the children's scores showed an increase in the overall scores, however, knowledge was the only subscale to show such an increase in scores. The lack in increase in affect scores might be the cause of several factors. The CHEAKS test might not be the best evaluation of affect in summer camps, and might not be the best test for the prominent age group used in this study. Environmental awareness might be taught in a summer camp, but a child might not transfer the new attitudes while taking a test. While environmental awareness might be a goal of a summer camp, if it is not specifically taught campers may not gain environmental awareness. This finding also supports the idea that affect and knowledge do not necessarily occur concurrently. That is, knowledge can be obtained with out the desired increase of awareness or a change in affect.

The female students had an increase in knowledge and total score while the male students only showed significant increase in knowledge. This additional improvement in total score indicates that the females had greater increases in the Attitude Subscales. While the changes in subscale scores were not significant independently, collectively they did influence the improvement in the female total score. This gender difference may be reflective of the fact that females learn differently than males, an issue that should be taken into consideration when developing outdoor environmental education programs.

When looking at the pre to post changes in based on age group, the youngest and middle age groups showed significant increase in knowledge score but not in any of the other scales. This may be because the attitude subscales were addressing more mature concepts or had a too high level of literacy. The oldest age group did not show a significant increase in any of the scales. This may be because the older children already had a strong knowledge base of environmental issues and the camp merely reinforced their knowledge. However, when assessing these pre to post camp changes, it is crucial to notice the small number of student who actually completed both phases of the study. A larger sample size is needed to truly assess for changes or to make any conclusions.

There were a number of limitations on the validity of this study. Many of the participants in the survey had either attended Trailside in previous summers or in previous weeks. This repeated exposure to Trailside programs could result in higher test scores in the participants. The participants might also know about the test from their fellow campers, and this social influence could have influenced their test scores. Another limitation is the effect of the parents' knowledge of or views toward the environment. Participants from a family that is active in the outdoors or the environment may initially have higher scores on the test but may not experience any gain in knowledge or change in attitude due to the already high baseline score. A participant's locus of control can be effected by many variables; age, gender, parent attitudes, and parenting style. All of these variables can affect a participant's environmentally responsible behavior. Future studies need to control for more variables at least by tracking everything that might influence camp learning and behavior change. Future studies need to have a larger pre- to post-sample size. This will help researchers further understand the connections between knowledge of and attitudes toward the environment and environmentally responsible behavior.

Conclusion

Summer camps that spend a lot of time in the outdoors need to develop specific goals towards producing environmentally responsible students for the future. This is a lofty ideal; however, it is obtainable and should be implemented by more summer camps. We as environmental educators and camp directors need to make it our priority to get children outdoors and experiencing the environment. Once environmental educators are effective in developing more environmentally responsible citizens, our goal has been achieved.

Megan Urban is a graduate student at Alaska Pacific University and worked at Trailside Discovery Camp in Anchorage Alaska.

Kirsten Martin is a graduate student at University of Colorado at Denver.

Originally published in the 2008 July/August issue of Camping Magazine.