Dear Colleagues,
ChangeScale is partnering with researchers at Stanford University to create this eighth issue of the Environmental Education Research Bulletin. The most talented environmental educators we know are conducting place-based programs, collaborating with communities, and using handson strategies to make critical links between enhancing environmental awareness, building skills, and supporting informed action. Yet rarely do these committed professionals have time to keep up on the latest research, whose benefcial fndings may enhance the efectiveness of environmental education programming. To that end, these bulletins aim to help bridge the research-to-practice gap by summarizing recently reported research. In turn, we hope that practitioners may be inspired to infuse their work with recent research fndings.
In this issue, we include synopses of peer-reviewed journal articles that are particularly relevant for frontline environmental education practitioners. We reviewed issues (published from July to December 2014) of a number of environmental education-related journals, including: Journal of Environmental Education, Environmental Education Research, Applied Environmental Education & Communications, Australian Journal of Environmental Education, Canadian Journal of Environmental Education, Journal of Experiential Education, International Journal of Science Education, Science Education, Visitor Studies, Journal of Interpretation Research, Environmental Research Letters, and Journal of Environmental Psychology.
Because we are creating this document for you, we’re eager to hear your feedback. Please let us know if there are additional topics you’d like to see covered or journals you’d like us to monitor, or if there’s an alternative format that may be helpful. You can send suggestions to eeresearchbulletins@changescale.org. We’ll consider your feedback at the beginning of each cycle and try to adapt accordingly.
For another take on these kinds of articles, you may want to check out the North American Association for Environmental Education’s professional development site, eePRO, which has a section devoted to research and evaluation. You may also be interested in the Relating Research to Practice efort of CILS and the Exploratorium, available here: http://relatingresearchtopractice.org/ We wish you all the best in your important eforts to integrate high-quality research into inspiring practice!
Nicole M. Ardoin, Ph.D.
Project Lead Associate Professor, Stanford University
Elizabeth C. Babcock, Ph.D.
ChangeScale Chair
Chief Public Engagement Ofcer & Roberts-Wilson Dean of Education
California Academy of Sciences
Kirk Anne Taylor
Director, ChangeScale
