Abstract
Little is known about the evaluation practices of environmental educators. Questionnaires and discussion groups with a convenience sample of UK-based practitioners were used to uncover their evaluation methods. Although many report that they are evaluating regularly, this is mainly monitoring numbers of participants or an assessment of enjoyment. There may be a difference between practitioners’ and evaluation experts’ understandings of what constitutes evaluation, with many practitioners appearing to see “data collection” and “evaluation” as synonymous. In addition, evaluators would not consider many of the methods used for data collection appropriate. More robust methods for collecting data and longer-term evaluations are often impractical for environmental educators to conduct themselves, and mechanisms are suggested for improving interaction between practitioners, researchers, and evaluators, which could enhance evaluation practice.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 41-55 |
| Number of pages | 15 |
| Journal | The Journal of Environmental Education |
| Volume | 46 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| Early online date | 26 Nov 2014 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 2015 |
Bibliographical note
<p>doi: 10.1080/00958964.2014.973351</p>Keywords
- Data collection
- Evaluation
- Evaluation typology
- Practice
- Tools