Overview July 16, 2018

Setting

CCS projects occur in many different settings, and different settings have different influences on science and environmental learning opportunities for youth.

Many online CCS programs allow youth to virtually “go” to locations all over the world, from African savannahs to space to the bottom of the ocean, by asking participants to classify photos and potentially have conversations online with scientists and other curious participants. Projects conducted outside in the field can have important implications for learning and fostering environmental stewardship behaviors when youth have hands-on immersive experiences with a particular place, whether familiar or new. Regular social interaction around, and engagement within, a particular place can increase a sense of connection to that place (Kudryavtsev, Stedman & Krasny, 2012). Enhancing this connection to place can in turn have positive outcomes on environmental attitudes and conservation behaviors (Heimlich & Ardoin, 2008) and encourage ongoing environmental engagement (Carr, 2002).

When selecting or designing a CCS project to support learning for youth, consider both the resources available to access your research sites as well as how youth environmental stewardship and connection to place fits into your learning goals. There are a variety of questions you can ask about potential project settings:

Are you looking for indoor or outdoor settings?

Do you want to explore programs involving online classifying and working with photos and other online data?

Are you hoping to get youth outside to explore a new place, or help them learn more about a familiar local place?

For projects outside, what are the habitat requirements of the program, and will youth have access to that kind of site into the future?

Does the project allow you to select your own sites, or are there pre-selected sites that your group can sign-up for?

Here we provide examples of programs that span the range of possible settings for CCS projects involving youth:

Research sites may be focused on specific locations or biogeographical features. Some biogeographic features, such as freshwater and marine habitats, (for projects like VitalSigns) or tropical oceans (for projects like CoralWatch) may be widely available. Projects may also be place-specific, like the Hudson River Eel Project or the California Phenology Project.

Some projects can be done anywhere such as at school campuses, neighborhoods, backyards or parks.

Online or virtual settings can be done anywhere you can bring a computer or mobile device and do not require a research site. Even with limited time or space, such projects can provide opportunities for participation.

References

Ardoin & Heimlich (2013). Views From the Field: Conservation Educators’ and Practitioners’ Perceptions of Education as a Strategy for Achieving Conservation Outcomes, The Journal of Environmental Education, 44:2, 97-115, DOI: 10.1080/00958964.2012.700963

Carr, A. (2002). “Stewardship Groups: in profile“, Grass roots and green tape: Principles and practices of environmental stewardship. Federation Press.

Kudryavtsev, Stedman & Krasny (2012). Sense of place in environmental education, Environmental Education Research, 18:2, 229-250, DOI: 10.1080/13504622.2011.609615

Can be done anywhere

Online

Specific Location

References

Log in

Commands