The article “Quantifying the Presence of Written Materials and the Use of Outside Texts in Nature Centers for Environmental Education” was published in the Journal of Applied Environmental Education & Communication in September 2013. As its title suggests, the study and surrounding literature encompassed in the article focus on the availability of text books and written materials in environmental education. This is particularly interesting to me because many environmental education programs that focus on outdoor education tend to focus more on experiential education rather than using texts.
In this well-conducted study, researchers from Duke University sent questionnaires to representatives of more than 1800 nature centers nationwide. The survey asked questions about various aspects of the nature center programs, including those pertaining to location, setting, audience and goals of the nature center. The analysis focuses more on what kind of written materials are available, as well as how often outside texts are cited in those materials.
There was a thirty-one percent response rate for the questionnaires, meaning 563 individual responses were sent in to be evaluated. There were representatives from each state, leaving researchers with the following demographic: 17% from the Northeast, 34% from the Midwest, 34% from the South and 16% from the West.
The survey results concluded that 91% of nature centers carry brochures, 88% carried handouts, 85% carried books and 82% had permanent information displays. An analysis of variance concluded that region and setting (urban to rural) had to affect on what kind of resources each nature center possessed. 66% of those surveyed reported that outside sources were cited, referenced or quoted in the materials provided.
In conclusion, most nature centers provide some kind of written material for visitors, although a large amount of them (34%) do not reference, cite or quote outside materials. My personal theory is that providing some kind of textual material may help nature centers, and outdoor educators in general, reach out to a broader audience by catering to those with different learning styles. I believe it is imperative to incorporate as many outlets for learning as possible, as every person has a different preference for how to learn.