This study was done by Doug Knapp and Elizabeth Barrie and was published in the Journal of Science Education and Technology in 2001. This article focuses on two important takeaways of environmental education: awareness of environmental issues and knowledge of natural processes.
The article opens with literature including a 1994 report that over 20 million students visit science education centers each year, and that the number of these facilities has doubled since 1978. It then continues on to say that there is extensive research done to show that many are positively impacted by field trip experiences in their youth- drawn to either furthering their scientific education or having a more positive environmental attitude.
Researchers set forth to ask the question of what exactly made the difference for participants in environmental field expeditions. Specifically, they focused on the effect that two different field trips had on the environmental views of students. A diverse group of 500 urban fourth, fifth and sixth grade students were taken to a science center in Indiana in 1997 and 1998- one in the fall and one in the spring.
The students were taught lessons, as well as asked to hike around a lake while paying attention to various environmental factors of the ecosystem. One group was specifically issue-oriented and the other was ecology-oriented. They were then given a series of 15 multiple-choice questions to test their behavior intent, knowledge and attitude both before and after the field excursions. Data was then analyzed using ANOVA. The data analysis concluded that there was a significant increase in knowledge as a result of the field trips, however there was no significant difference between the ecology-based and the issue-based trips.
What does this conclude for the field of environmental education? Simply put, it does not seem to matter what students learn about environmental education, as long as they are outside and actively engaged.