GiLE Foundation

Global Institute For Lifelong Empowerment

Education and the Environment: Do environmental programmes at school affect critical thinking skills?

We are getting farther and farther from nature: more and more people live in cities, where there are opportunities and resources, but very little greenery. However, research indicates that those who manage to maintain a greater connection with the environment have immense health benefits.

To start with, Harvard University, Brigham, and Women’s Hospital found after interviewing more than 108,000 women that the mortality rate of those who lived in greener areas was 12% lower than those living in less wooded urban centres.

Image from Unsplashed.com by @franckinjapan

Another study conducted by the University of Chiba showed that “Forest bath” reduces levels of cortisol (stress hormone), decreases the pulse and blood pressure and even has an effect on the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems. It is also known that having contact with nature improves memory and aids concentration power.

The benefit from nature are numerous, but does it have impact on education? And more specifically, on students’ critical thinking skills?

That was the question that motivated a study conducted by University of Florida in 2004.

For the researchers, traditional tests indicate current and past performance, but fail to measure knowledge and skills that may contribute constructively to future learning. They argue that exams should instead provide information on whether or not students can use their current achievement to acquire further knowledge.

Critical thinking skills

Critical thinking skills and the ability to think critically are alternative measures of achievement, offering insights into the talents of the students as potential learners and problem solvers. Critical thinking is the purposeful, self-regulating judgment process that drives problem-solving and decision-making.

With this in mind, environmental education may be of real interest. It does not prescribe a single approach or intervention in the face of complex environmental concerns, but instead it encourages students to draw on and synthesise information and skills from a range of subject areas to perform investigations, solve problems and take decisions that lead to informed and responsible actions.

The goal of the research

The aim of this mixed-methodology study was to investigate the relationship between environmental-based education and critical thinking skills among high school students as well as their inclination towards critical thinking.

Methodology

To achieve the goal, 12 Florida high schools were selected, where Environment-based programmes were taking place. The criteria were that the programmes had to have been implemented for at least two years and the participants had to be willing to be part of the research.

One hundred sixty 9th grade students and two hundred thirty-nine 12th grade students, ages 14 to 18 participated in the study.

California Measure of Mental Motivation

This part of the study is a 72-item questionnaire that takes about 20 minutes to be completed, specially designed for middle and high school students, called CM3, level II. Students receive a score on a scale ranging from 0 to 50, with higher scores representing a stronger disposition toward critical thinking.

The CM3 was developed from the definition of disposition toward critical thinking generated through the 1990 Delphi Project, suggesting the content validity of the instrument for measuring disposition toward critical thinking.

Results

Environmental interdisciplinary design offered opportunities for the integration of learning between subject areas and the discovery of links between natural and social systems. Students and teachers found the environmental context useful for connecting classroom learning and real-life applications.

The programmes were viewed as offering opportunities for students to develop and use thinking skills and achieve a better interaction with nature, plus better engagement with social systems and real-world issues.

All of the students interviewed believed their thinking skills were improved and they were more likely to use these thinking skills when they had opportunities to engage in learning by posing and solving problems, investigating issues, and building learner-centred understanding opportunities.

Crucially, empowered students were found to take responsibility for their own learning.

This was because the students planned the projects themselves. The study indicates that students who enrolled in activities focused on the environment were more advanced in critical thinking than their peers, even those peers in traditional environmental science classes.

Conclusion

The study showed a positive correlation between environmental-based programmes and critical thinking.

The results could be used to increase public and policy-makers’ consciousness about the important role of the environment in education.

Also, these results can be used by teachers and administrators to justify their environment-based programmes to stakeholders in the formal education community. This can also help assure parents, superintendents, and policymakers that these programmes can produce desired and valued educational outcomes.

Environment-based education should not replace traditional environmental education activities, but should rather complement them, giving a greater experience to students and preparing them better to the future.

REFERENCES:

BARANYI, Lucas. (2018) Menos estresse e mais memória; 7 benefícios do contato com a natureza. https://www.uol.com.br/vivabem/noticias/redacao/2018/09/15/beneficios-do-contato-com-a-natureza-veja-como-inclui-los-no-dia-a-dia.htm

ERNST, Julie & Monroe, Martha. (2004). The effects of environment‐based education on students’ critical thinking skills and disposition toward critical thinking. Environmental Education Research – ENVIRON EDUC RES. 10. 507-522. 10.1080/1350462042000291038.

Author:

Eduarda Moreira Nascimento

Article Writer & Content Contributor

June 15, 2020

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The opinions expressed in this article/publication are those of the authors. They do not necessarily reflect the opinions or views of GiLE or its members.

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