The Contribution of an Environmental Service-Learning Program to Eighth-Grade Students’ Environmental Literacy

• In Event: Roundtable Session 6
  In Roundtable Session: Engagement, Reflection, and Identity Development Through Service-Learning

Abstract

Increasing the environmental literacy of school-aged citizens is an important goal for our society. The present study examined the environmental literacy of eighth grade students before and after participation in a service-learning program. Student scores on the Middle School Environmental Literacy Survey (Hungerford, Volk, McBeth & Bluhm, 2009) were compared with national results from a larger study. Participants were 18 students from two classes at a small, public charter school. Service-learning participants made significant gains on their ecological knowledge and issue identification skills after participation in the program. Results suggest that service-learning programs hold promise for improving some aspects of environmental literacy.

Authors

• Eileen G. Merritt, University of Virginia

• Jill Greiner

• Alison Elizabeth Baroody, San Francisco State University

• Sara E. Rimm-Kaufman, University of Virginia